Europe
Carillion’s collapse in UK and the East Coast bailout: What would ending the “Private Financial Initiative rip-off” entail?
By Jean Shaoul, 18 January 2018
In the wake of the collapse of construction giant Carillion, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demagogically declared it was time “to end the rip-off privatisation policies.”
Another bonanza year for highest paid UK CEOs
By Dennis Moore, 18 January 2018
The median average pay of the top FTSE 100 CEO's is £3.45 million a year, 120 times the average pay of a worker.
Families and survivors hold seven-month commemoration of Grenfell Tower fire
By our reporters, 17 January 2018
Some 1,500 people, including survivors and the families of those who died in last year’s Grenfell Tower fire, staged their monthly Silent March on January 14.
Romanian prime minister resigns amid rising social tensions
By Andrei Tudora and Tina Zamfir, 17 January 2018
There is an increasing mood of militancy among Romanian workers, with autoworkers at Ford locked in a struggle against management, the union and the government.
UK: Election of pro-Corbyn slate to Labour’s National Executive Committee underscores left shift in working class
By Chris Marsden, 16 January 2018
Corbyn is now in control of his cabinet and, following various reshuffles, has a majority of the party membership and now the NEC.
UK: Carillion collapse threatens jobs and pensions, exposing plunder of social assets
By Julie Hyland, 16 January 2018
There are reports of banks shifting Carillion off their balance sheets over the last months in anticipation of its inevitable folding.
UK National Archives: Key government files “missing,” and documents on Europe withheld
By Richard Tyler, 15 January 2018
The missing files are thought to include thousands of government papers dealing with critical chapters of recent history that can prove to be a major political embarrassment.
For new elections and a socialist offensive against the grand coalition in Germany
By Johannes Stern, 15 January 2018
Opposition within the population to the grand coalition’s anti-working class and militarist policies is enormous.
Virgin Care and other private companies seize another £3.1 billion of NHS contracts
By Ajanta Silva, 15 January 2018
By running down National Health Service-run provision across the country, the Tories have opened up new avenues for private companies to cherry pick lucrative areas.
German conservatives and Social Democrats agree to coalition talks
By Peter Schwarz, 13 January 2018
The 28-page document on the results of the exploratory talks conceals a deeply reactionary right-wing programme behind unctuous rhetoric about an “awakening,” “democracy,” “peace” and “justice.”
German industrial workers continue strikes
By Ulrich Rippert, 13 January 2018
The IG Metall trade union is increasingly concerned by the unrest and radical atmosphere in the plants, but has indicated its readiness to compromise and reach a sell-out deal.
Greek workers stop work in opposition to Syriza anti-strike and austerity measures
By Robert Stevens, 13 January 2018
Strikes shut down the Athens rail system, ships were unable to sail, and state-run hospitals were forced to rely on reserve staff.
Fraud of official inquiry into Grenfell fire exposed by forced withdrawal of project management adviser
By Robert Stevens, 13 January 2018
The scandal over KPMG serves once again to dispel any illusions that the official Grenfell inquiry has anything to do with establishing the truth or holding the guilty to account.
160,000 industrial workers strike in Germany
By Peter Schwarz, 11 January 2018
Amid widespread anger over social inequality and corporate job-cutting, there is a growing determination to fight for improvements in wages and working conditions.
France’s Socialist Party attacks Catherine Deneuve for opposing #MeToo witch-hunt
By Alex Lantier, 11 January 2018
The courageous column published by 100 women in Le Monde criticizing the #MeToo campaign has provoked a venomous response from the French state machine.
Spanish PM Rajoy seeks to prevent Catalan nationalists from forming government
By Alejandro López and Paul Mitchell, 10 January 2018
The Supreme Court is planning to issue writs against a further 11 people linked to the deposed Catalan government for their part in organising last October’s independence referendum.
What does Russian “opposition leader” Alexei Navalny represent?
By Clara Weiss, 9 January 2018
There is a stark disjuncture between the overwhelming support that Navalny receives from the Western media and his near total lack of popularity in Russia itself.
French chemical industry unions back contract violating minimum wage laws
By Alex Lantier, 8 January 2018
Backed by the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron is using his labor decrees to try to scrap basic social rights won by the working class.
German foreign minister demands aggressive assertion of great power interests
By Christoph Vandreier, 8 January 2018
Gabriel’s rhetoric, in his interview with Spiegel Online, is aimed at initiating a further escalation of German militarism and freeing Berlin from any restrictions.
Volkswagen plans to dismiss all temporary contract workers in German plants
By Dietmar Henning, 8 January 2018
VW’s mass firing of temporary contract workers is the prelude to sweeping job cuts and attacks on the gains of all autoworkers.
UK rail workers continue strikes against Driver Only Operated train plans
By Michael Barnes, 8 January 2018
As dangerous incidents begin to escalate, the rail companies and the Tory government refuse to retreat in their war against conductors’ jobs.
UK workers confront rising job losses in 2018
By Tony Robson, 8 January 2018
At no point have Unite, GMB, the retail workers union, USDAW, or any other, even mooted a fight in defence of a single job.
Britain’s National Health Service is being deliberately brought to the brink of collapse
By Robert Stevens, 6 January 2018
NHS employees now often refer to the conditions they face at work as a “battlefield” or “war zone.”
German conservatives and Social Democrats prepare formation of far-right government
By Peter Schwarz, 6 January 2018
There is a crisis over the formation of the government because the Christian Democrats, Christian Social Union and Social Democrats are preparing a sharp shift to the right, which finds no support among the population.
Incoming German government plans massive military rearmament
By Johannes Stern, 3 January 2018
A recent paper by the Bavarian Christian Social Union makes clear what the real questions are about forming the next government.
Germany: Demands grow for Merkel’s resignation
By Peter Schwarz, 30 December 2017
The longer negotiations on a new ruling coalition continue, the more likely leading business, political and media figures will press for a rapid change at the top of the government.
Italian election campaign officially opens
By Peter Schwarz, 30 December 2017
Italian President Sergio Matarella dissolved parliament on Thursday, opening campaigning for the election which will take place in the first week of March.
The ruling class’s Christmas message to Grenfell survivors: You will get nothing from us
By Steve James, 30 December 2017
Three days before Christmas, Prime Minister Theresa May rejected a petition set up by a survivor of the July Grenfell Tower inferno in London.
Macron turns France’s labor decrees on auto workers
By Alex Lantier, 29 December 2017
The announcement of mass layoffs by Europe’s second-largest automaker is part of a relentless international assault on workers' jobs, working conditions and social rights.
UK steps up provocations against Russia
By Steve James and Chris Marsden, 27 December 2017
The effort to play up the passage of a Russian warship through the North Sea on Christmas Day is only the latest example of the UK’s escalating propaganda campaign against Russia.
How former Nazi official Reinhard Gehlen erected a state within a state in post-war Germany
By Wolfgang Weber, 27 December 2017
Over 100,000 pages of documents relating to the post-World War II head of the German Federal Intelligence Service and ex-Nazi official Reinhard Gehlen have been leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Political turmoil in Spain following Catalan election
By Paul Mitchell, 23 December 2017
Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy is under pressure from some quarters to consider negotiations, but there is no indication of a climbdown on his part.
Trump authorizes $41.5 million sale of lethal US weaponry to Ukraine
By Niles Niemuth, 23 December 2017
The decision to allow Kiev to purchase “lethal defensive weapons” portends an escalation in the nearly four-year-old war against pro-Russian separatists entrenched in the country’s eastern provinces.
Massive job cuts at Opel and Vauxhall
By Marianne Arens, 23 December 2017
The management board, works council and IG Metall union have agreed on a drastic reduction in staff and labour costs at Opel to make the company more profitable.
Virgin Care: A case study in how private corporations loot the UK’s National Health Service
By Ajanta Silva, 23 December 2017
The Surrey Downs Clinical Commissioning Group accidentally disclosed a backdoor payment of £328,000 to Virgin Care, owned by billionaire business mogul Richard Branson.
Engineering workers occupy three BiFab yards in Scotland
By Darren Paxton and Sandy Campbell, 23 December 2017
Although workers effectively took control of the yards, the GMB and Unite trade unions were at pains to insist the action was a “work-in.”
Wildcat strike stops production as workers eject union leaders at Ford Romania
By Eric London, 23 December 2017
The spontaneous walkout took place the day after Ford and the union agreed to a sellout contract with similar terms as those imposed on workers in the US and Canada.
Social inequality and Germany’s government crisis
By Peter Schwarz, 23 December 2017
Social inequality has reached a scale that is no longer compatible with democratic forms of rule.
UK: Deputy Conservative leader Damian Green forced to resign by manufactured sex scandal
By Robert Stevens, 22 December 2017
The contrived campaign at Westminster over sexual impropriety has caused the suicide of one leading Welsh Labour member and the sudden death of a Labour Party staffer—also believed to be a suicide.
German police publicly name and shame G20 protesters
By Peter Schwarz, 22 December 2017
In an unlawful act, the police and state prosecutor have published online the photos of hundreds of demonstrators five months after the G20 protests.
UK: Pro-Corbyn councillors sabotage fight against Labour’s social cleansing
By Robert Stevens and Margot Miller, 22 December 2017
Haringey Labour Council will commence the demolition of 1,000 council homes and the building of luxury accommodation that only the wealthiest can afford, in one of the largest acts of social cleansing in the capital.
German Social Democratic Party follows the path of far-right Alternative for Germany
By Ulrich Rippert, 21 December 2017
Ex-SPD leader and acting Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is calling for his party to adopt the right-wing nationalist policies of Alternative for Germany.
Far-right party enters Austrian government
By Peter Schwarz, 19 December 2017
Politicians with close ties to the neo-Nazi scene and ultra-right circles now wield power in Austria.
Families and survivors hold six-month commemoration of Grenfell Tower fire
By Paul Mitchell, 18 December 2017
The marchers carried photographs of those who had perished in the Grenfell fire, and held large green heart-shaped banners and placards with slogans including “Justice for Grenfell” and “We demand the truth.”
Right-wing extremists enter government in Austria
By Markus Salzmann, 18 December 2017
In a country where the ruling class resorted to dictatorship in the early 1930s, and largely backed the 1938 Anschluss with Nazi Germany, the shadow of the past has returned.
Oppose media witch-hunt against “the left” over Grenfell fire
By Robert Stevens, 18 December 2017
The aim is to conceal the fact that, half a year on, no one has been questioned about, let alone arrested for, the inferno that killed more than 70 people.
EU summit agrees talks will move forward, but Brexit crisis continues
By Chris Marsden, 16 December 2017
Guidelines issued for the UK on Brexit stipulate that it must adopt all new European Union laws created during the transition period, while being excluded from any decision-making role.
German parliament extends foreign military missions with support of the far-right AfD
By Johannes Stern, 16 December 2017
Despite the ongoing government crisis, all the German bourgeois parties are driving forward the militarization of foreign policy.
Amazon conducts total surveillance of workers in new German plant
By Marianne Arens, 16 December 2017
“One speaks of robots becoming more and more like humans, at Amazon it’s the other way round: humans become robots.”
French conservative leadership election signals move towards far right
By Anthony Torres, 16 December 2017
Laurent Wauquiez won The Republicans (LR) party presidency by attacking Muslims and gay marriage, prompting speculation that LR will seek neo-fascist alliances.
Germany: SPD and Christian Democrats initiate exploratory talks on new government
By Peter Schwarz, 14 December 2017
The leaderships of the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union and Social Democrats met yesterday for the first talks on forming a new government.
Italy’s “Black Wave” of neo-fascist attacks
By Marianne Arens and Peter Schwarz, 14 December 2017
Around 10,000 demonstrators protested last Saturday in the northern Italian city of Como against the “Black Wave”, the increase of neo-fascist attacks throughout the country.
Six months since the Grenfell Tower fire
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 14 December 2017
On June 14, in the wealthiest borough of one of the very richest of capital cities, working class residents were burned to death because their home had been turned into a death trap.
Film Review
“Grenfell changed everything”—Failed by the State: The Struggle in the Shadow of Grenfell
By Paul Bond, 14 December 2017
A new three-part documentary shows how the Grenfell Tower inferno exposed the realities of class oppression and social inequality in the most brutal way.
German Left Party supports SPD foreign minister’s great power politics
By Johannes Stern, 13 December 2017
Dietmar Bartsch, the Left Party’s parliamentary leader, has followed Social Democrat Foreign Minister Gabriel in advocating an “assertive role” for Germany in the world.
General Electric follows Siemens in announcing mass layoffs
By Gustav Kemper, 12 December 2017
The American conglomerate General Electric announced the layoff of 12,000 workers last week, including 4,500 in Europe.
Grenfell Fire forum discusses upcoming six month anniversary
By our reporter, 12 December 2017
Six months after the Grenfell Tower inferno, more than half of the households that require rehousing remain in temporary accommodation, including many children.
Brexit talks with EU to proceed after climbdown by UK prime minister
By Chris Marsden, 9 December 2017
The European Union will likely allow the UK to move on to the next stage of discussion on the terms of Brexit, focusing on a future trading relationship.
Germany: Protests against the deportation of refugees
By our correspondents, 9 December 2017
Refugees from Afghanistan were herded onto a plane and flown from the German airport in Frankfurt-Main to Kabul, despite the efforts of several hundred demonstrators.
UK government accelerates plans to ration and privatise National Health Service
By Ajanta Silva, 9 December 2017
In his budget, Tory Chancellor Hammond allocated a derisory £2.8 billon for the NHS over the next three years, under conditions in which the combined deficit of NHS trusts alone stood at £770 million last financial year.
Mark Mazower’s What You Did Not Tell: The fate of a 20th century family from Russia
By Clara Weiss, 5 December 2017
Mark Mazower’s account of his family’s history, which was closely entangled with the development of the Russian revolutionary movement, is a very interesting and stimulating read.
UK government rocked by Trump’s fascistic twitter postings
By Robert Stevens, 2 December 2017
Following Trump’s unprecedented public attack on the Prime Minister, the alliance between the two countries has never been shakier.
At Abidjan summit, EU and France intensify neo-colonial scramble for Africa
By Francis Dubois, 2 December 2017
Faced with the disastrous results of the imperialist wars in Libya and the Sahel, the European Union is proposing to intensify its neo-colonialist and military interventions.
One in 25 people homeless in some areas of England
By Dennis Moore, 2 December 2017
A new study by the homeless charity Shelter shows widespread and pervasive homelessness across the UK, with an additional 13,000 without accommodation in the last year alone.
Campaign builds for grand coalition in Germany
By Peter Schwarz, 2 December 2017
A new installment of the grand coalition would pursue a much more aggressive right-wing agenda than the previous governments.
German political establishment and big business call for grand coalition government
By Johannes Stern, 27 November 2017
The SPD fears that new elections and political uncertainty could destabilise conditions in Europe and undermine the global interests of German imperialism.
Protesting workers at bankrupt Air Berlin denounce Merkel government
By Gustav Kemper, 27 November 2017
More than a thousand employees of the insolvent airline gathered Wednesday in front of Berlin Central Station for a demonstration against imminent mass redundancies.
Bus workers in northwest England escalate strikes for pay parity
By John Newham, 27 November 2017
As more disputes erupt, the unions are doing everything to contain the situation and oppose any united offensive by transport workers.
Germany’s Social Democrats prepare for grand coalition with Merkel
By Peter Schwarz, 25 November 2017
A third installment of the grand coalition will will adopt an even more authoritarian and ruthless course from its predecessors.
UK Electoral Commission investigates Leave campaign finances in Brexit referendum
By Julie Hyland, 25 November 2017
The UK Electoral Commission is investigating whether the Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum on British membership of the European Union breached its £7 million spending limit.
Kremlin instructs Russian industry to prepare for war mobilization
By Alex Lantier, 24 November 2017
A century after World War I, amid another catastrophic political collapse of world capitalism, countries across Europe and the world are again preparing for total war.
German SPD leader Martin Schulz: A false friend of Siemens workers
By Peter Schwarz, 24 November 2017
Despite Schulz’s rhetorical denunciations of planned job cuts at Siemens, the SPD has for years been at the forefront of attacks against workers’ jobs, wages, and living standards.
Co-plaintiffs criticize German federal prosecutor and secret service in neo-Nazi NSU trial
By Justus Leicht and Dietmar Henning, 24 November 2017
Lawyers for the relatives and victims of the terrorist attacks carried out by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground (NSU) are presenting their final arguments in the case against the NSU.
The Socialist Equality Party in Germany demands new elections
By Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, 23 November 2017
Under present conditions, this is the only way in which the working class can intervene into political events, bring their interests to bear and combat the far right’s political offensive.
Christian Democratic student association calls for the banning of the IYSSE at German universities
By Christoph Vandreier, 22 November 2017
The denial of working group status for the IYSSE in Leipzig sets a precedent to deprive socialist student organizations of standing as university groups across the country, an attack on basic democratic rights.
Grenfell Tower “independent” task force produces whitewash report
By Steve James, 18 November 2017
The report avoids any reference to the fire’s origins in national and local policy decisions, including the deregulation and privatisation of fire safety and building control, as well as fire service cuts.
Artist lists names of fortress Europe’s 33,000 refugee victims
By Dietmar Henning, 18 November 2017
Artist Banu Cennetoğlu has published a list with the names of 33,293 asylum seekers, refugees and migrants who have died since 1993 as a result of Europe’s refugee policies.
Patel resignation exposes UK’s covert support for Israel and Islamist proxies
By Jean Shaoul, 17 November 2017
The sordid tale of Department for International Development Secretary Priti Patel’s fall from grace and resignation highlights the true content of Britain’s “aid” policy.
Report notes dramatic increase in homelessness in Germany
By Marianne Arens, 17 November 2017
The Federal Working Group for Homelessness reported this week that the homeless now number almost 1 million in Germany.
May’s Conservative government faces possible collapse over Brexit
By Chris Marsden, 11 November 2017
European Union officials have let it be known that they are making contingency plans based on Prime Minister Theresa May not surviving beyond the end of this year.
Metropolitan Police try to block Freedom of Information requests over Grenfell Tower
By Simon Whelan, 11 November 2017
Attempts to stifle information over the Grenfell Tower inferno come as it has been revealed that 52 London tower blocks are similarly clad in flammable material.
The denunciation of the Russian Revolution in Germany
By Peter Schwarz, 11 November 2017
If one reviews the articles, contributions on radio and television, and films to mark the centenary of the October Revolution in Russia, the principal rule that applies is: “anything goes.”
NATO summit escalates preparation for war with Russia
By Alex Lantier, 10 November 2017
NATO is planning for a major land war in Europe against Russia, which fields the world’s second-largest nuclear arsenal after the United States.
UK Labour’s Carl Sargeant commits suicide after sexual harassment allegations
By Julie Hyland, 10 November 2017
Friends and colleagues denounced Sargeant’s treatment, saying that he had been “thrown to the wolves,” despite none of the allegations being subject to investigation by the police.
German court rejects bid by Professor Jörg Baberowski to bar criticism of his right-wing extremism
By Christoph Vandreier, 10 November 2017
The Humboldt University professor was rebuffed in an attempt to have a court prohibit the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei from exposing his falsifications of history.
Tens of thousands protest in Catalonia against moves towards authoritarian rule in Spain
By Alex Lantier, 9 November 2017
Tens of thousands of people protested yesterday in Catalonia against the detention of Catalan nationalist politicians as political prisoners by Madrid.
NATO intensifies its preparations for war with Russia
By Philipp Frisch, 7 November 2017
Against the backdrop of US aggression against North Korea, NATO is intensifying its preparations for war with Russia, the world’s second largest nuclear power.
SEP national secretary proposes “Capitalism Has Failed” at St Andrews University Union Debating Society
By our reporter, 7 November 2017
Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Britain, won substantial support for the proposition that capitalism is an “abject failure.”
Deposed Catalan premier hands himself in to Belgian police
By Alex Lantier, 6 November 2017
Criticisms of Spain’s handling of the Catalan crisis from within European ruling circles reflect concerns that Madrid’s actions could provoke explosive popular opposition.
Germany: “Jamaica coalition” on a course towards war
By Peter Schwarz, 6 November 2017
The greatest pressure for a massive rearmament comes not from the “Jamaica” parties, but rather from the Social Democrats, the SPD.
European Union intervenes in Maldives
By Rohantha De Silva, 6 November 2017
The EU visit had nothing to do with defending “human rights” but to ensure the domination of western powers over the strategically located Indian Ocean archipelago.
French state of emergency expires in name, but police state remains
By Alex Lantier and Kumaran Ira, 4 November 2017
The expiration of France’s two-year state of emergency does not signify a return to conditions before 2015, but stepped-up attacks on democratic rights.
Escalation of Universal Credit rollout in UK threatens millions more with poverty
By Robert Stevens, 4 November 2017
As well as facing delays in receiving the Universal Credit payments, many of those on the benefit face punitive “sanctions” aimed at cutting the pittance they receive even further.
Britain’s Defence Secretary Fallon resigns in anti-democratic “sex pest” scandal
By Julie Hyland, 3 November 2017
The sex scandal engulfing Britain’s parliament sprang to life following that involving American film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Catalan, Spanish workers face grave dangers from Madrid’s repression
By Paul Mitchell and Chris Marsden, 2 November 2017
The attempt by Madrid and the EU to impose a dictatorial regime, whether or not this is sanctioned by imposed elections, must be opposed by the entire Spanish and Catalan working class.
Catalan premier appeals to EU as opposition mounts to Madrid’s crackdown
By Alex Lantier, 1 November 2017
Puigdemont asked the EU to broker a deal between the Spanish government and the Catalan authorities based on the December 21 election imposed on Catalonia by Madrid.
Austria: Conservatives discuss coalition with the extreme right
By Markus Salzmann, 1 November 2017
Ten days after the Austrian parliamentary elections, the conservative Austrian People’s Party has begun negotiations to form government with the far-right Freedom Party.
EU backs Madrid’s imposition of authoritarian regime in Catalonia
By Francis Dubois, 31 October 2017
Fearing the eruption of mass struggles against austerity, the European financial oligarchy is backing the imposition of an authoritarian regime in Catalonia.
Catalan Premier Puigdemont flees to Belgium as Spain asserts direct rule over Catalonia
By Alejandro López, 30 October 2017
The Catalan nationalist parties are bitterly hostile to a political intervention in the crisis by the working class.
Art auction for Grenfell fire survivors raises £2 million
By Paul Bond, 30 October 2017
The auction in London met up with the feeling of solidarity that many people have with those devastated by the fire.
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