Democracy & State
Overcoming the enemies within
17 May 2012
The left must unite in order to change the relationship of forces both within and outside the Labour Party, argues Mike Macnair
Carnival of the oppressed
26 Jun 2025
Midsummer day’s 350,000-strong Palestine demonstration in London was a defiant, disciplined protest against genocide, war and an increasingly repressive British state, writes Ian Spencer
Game, set and match
19 Jun 2025
Ditching auto-Labourism results from strategic bankruptcy, not strategic reorientation. Eddie Ford turns his eyes onto the ‘official communists’ and their abrupt change of line
Cheap pageantry for birthday boy
19 Jun 2025
‘No Kings’ vs ‘Big beautiful parade’. America is not in imminent danger of one-man dictatorship, but the authoritarianism of Trump’s regime is all too evident, argues Paul Demarty
Pro-Palestine symbolism
12 Jun 2025
Rival demonstrations brought large numbers on to the streets of Cork. Some want to drape themselves in the Irish tricolour, others raise the red flag of internationalism. Anne McShane reports
Turning back the clock
12 Jun 2025
No-one has the right not to be offended. The conviction of Hamit Coskun for burning the Koran is to revive the blasphemy laws by the back door. Not something the left should support, writes Eddie Ford
A city occupied
12 Jun 2025
Donald Trump’s escalation of repression in Los Angeles serves to distract from recent embarrassments, but also displays the violence at the heart of the constitutional order, argues Paul Demarty
Have the ‘localists’ won?
05 Jun 2025
Jeremy Corbyn’s project puts on display an embarrassing apolitical hotchpotch of moralistic waffle, but not everyone has given up on the fight for a ‘proper party’. Carla Roberts reports
Soviet strategy and class collaboration
05 Jun 2025
Having declared capitalist collapse imminent, there was a 180-degree about turn. Yassamine Mather looks at the origins and defeats resulting from the popular front
Defeat or victory?
05 Jun 2025
Erdoğan is not interested in democracy or Kurdish national rights. Arguably, the PKK’s guerrilla war served his interests. Esen Uslu puts the case for class politics and exploiting legal opportunities. However, if you talk of ‘defeat’, must you support the resumption of armed struggle?
Dark forces of extraction
29 May 2025
Who are Scattered Spider and how do they do what they do? Paul Demarty investigates the recent spate of ransomware-attacks on top companies and the extreme fragility of global IT systems
Centuries of Stalinism?
22 May 2025
What is the nature of the transition from capitalism to communism? In the first of a series, Mike Macnair begins with the ideas of the 1950s Fourth International and how ‘official communists’ see things today
Small island prospects
15 May 2025
As expected the ruling party has just been re-elected. However, what are the chances for the left and the working class within the confines of a tiny authoritarian city state with an AAA credit rating that serves as a financial hub and tax haven? Billy Clark gives his take on things
Breaking the mould?
08 May 2025
Last week saw major gains for Reform UK - but is Nigel Farage’s outfit about to replace the Tories? They have, after all, been in perpetual chaos for years. Paul Demarty is sceptical
Following the sign of the zigzag
01 May 2025
Peter Taaffe died on April 23 2025. While there can be no doubt about his dedication to what he understood by socialism, there was little or nothing consistent, when it came to his strategic ideas. In many ways, argues Jack Conrad, he embodied all that is wrong with today’s confessional sects
Case of judicial usurpation
24 Apr 2025
The Supreme Court decision on the legal definition of ‘woman’ poses more questions than it answers, but there can be no doubt that it marks a huge victory for the Tory Party and the rightwing media, says Mike Macnair