What a year it has been. Marx once remarked that there are some uneventful periods in which decades pass as though they were only days. There are other times, he noted, however, in which years of experience can be concentrated in the space of just one week. The epoch we are living through is clearly akin to the latter. In the space of just a few months…

Following a recent Socialist Appeal article about animal rights protests in Britain, direct action group Animal Rebellion (AR) responded, providing a defence of their strategy, tactics, and demands. Click here or scroll down to read their reply at the bottom of this page. In the piece below, Socialist Appeal activist Joe Russell explains the limits…

Last weekend, on Saturday 26 November, 65 people gathered in the London Irish Centre, with another 35 connecting online, for the launch of the new edition of Alan Woods’ Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution. Comrades joined the live-streamed event from Ireland, Britain, Sweden, the USA and Canada, making this a really international gathering. Enthusiasm…

Last week, on 23 November, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish government cannot hold an independence referendum without Westminster’s express permission. In a unanimous verdict, given after only a relatively short deliberation, the judges upheld the status quo – in effect closing ranks with the Tories to block a second referendum, and…

With a growing thirst for the ideas of Marxism, in Britain and across the world, Socialist Appeal and the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) are proud to announce the launch of Wellred Books Britain. Wellred Books has been an integral part of the IMT’s work since 2013, when it was first established. Producing books, magazines, and pamphlets of the…

“This was the year liberal democracy fought back,” declared Janan Ganesh, a particularly dull-witted columnist for the Financial Times on 15 November. The argument put forward by the FT’s international politics correspondent is that, following a period of chaos in which the ‘sensible political establishment’ was heavily discredited, 2022 has…

The sudden and ignominious collapse of FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has sent significant shockwaves throughout the highly speculative and volatile world of so-called digital assets. Bitcoin has plummeted to below US$17,000 per coin, from previous highs of almost $70,000. And other infamous cryptocurrencies have experienced…

The top national football teams from around the globe are currently facing off in Qatar, competing in the FIFA 2022 World Cup. England fans will be celebrating, after the Three Lions got off to a strong start today with a 6-2 win over Iran. The drama on the pitch, however, will be hard-pressed to match the controversies off it. Backlash Since 2010…

After weeks of build-up, the Tories have presented their new “eye-watering” austerity budget. Given the parlous state of the government’s finances, it is even worse than originally anticipated. “I am under no illusion that there is a tough road ahead,” asserted chancellor Jeremy Hunt, “one which will require extremely difficult decisions.”…

While western politicians cry crocodile tears for the plight of the Ukrainian people, thousands of innocent bodies pile high in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen without any coverage from the capitalist media. Back home, British Muslims and Asians are furious over this clear case of hypocrisy from the establishment.  This is not simply racism…

A couple of weeks ago, P&O Ferries turfed 800 people out of work with no notice. After the announcement in a pre-recorded video message, hi-vized heavies were sent onto the boats to bundle the workers off to the jobcentre. P&O is owned by a Dubai-based company, and made profits of £683m last year. And bosses sacking 800 people while they sit on piles…

At a recent emergency NATO-G7 summit, responding to appeals from Ukrainian President Zelensky for more help from the West, Boris Johnson lamented his personal “agony” over the UK’s “inability to do more” for Ukraine. In words, the British Prime Minister promised his counterpart that Ukraine was “not alone”. Yet in deeds, it is increasingly…

Saturday 26 March saw hundreds of local residents and activists gather in Coventry city centre in solidarity with the council’s refuse lorry drivers, who have been striking for over 10 weeks in a bitter dispute over pay. The mood at the protest was electric, with speeches from members of Unite, Coventry TUC, and the pickets resonating with the crowd…

Workers are feeling the squeeze of the cost-of-living crisis, with energy bills set to soar in April. This will plunge an estimated six million households into fuel poverty – the highest level since 1996. As many as a quarter of a million of the UK’s poorest households will be unable to access Rishi Sunak’s meagre £200 energy bill loan due to…

A perfect storm is brewing for British capitalism. A century of decline. A decade of austerity. The seismic dislocation of Brexit. The chaotic fallout from the pandemic. A mountain of debt. And now inflation raging as supply shocks – from COVID to war – rain down on the global economy. All of this forms the turbulent backdrop to Rishi Sunak’s…

On 17 March, in a pre-recorded video, and without any prior notice, the CEO of P&O Ferries announced to 800 workers that they were to be immediately sacked, in what the trade union movement is calling a “jobs massacre”. The company intends to replace ship staff with agency labour, some reportedly on as little as £1.80 an hour. The RMT and Nautilus…

The war in Ukraine could not have come at a better time for Boris Johnson, providing a welcome distraction from the #Partygate scandal. It has also provided a welcome distraction for Tory foreign minister Liz Truss. Until Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, she had been given the unenviable job of renegotiating the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit…

Last weekend, on 18-20 March, hundreds of Socialist Appeal activists from across the country gathered in London for a historic national conference. Not only was this the first in-person conference of the Marxist tendency in Britain since 2020, it also marked 30 years since Socialist Appeal was founded and first published in 1992. This year’s conference…

The first fixture of Sky Sports’ ‘Super Sunday’ coverage last weekend saw Chelsea welcome the newly-rich Newcastle United to Stamford Bridge. The game itself ended 1-0 to the hosts, and was full of controversy. Chelsea’s Kai Havertz was lucky not to be sent off just before half-time after elbowing Newcastle’s Dan Burn, leaving the 6’7”…

Capitalism is horror without end. Recent events have only made this assertion by Lenin all the more apparent, as this profit-driven system leads to more conflict, destruction, and despair. But there can be an end to such horror: by putting an end to the capitalist system itself. That is the task of the international working class. That is the task we…

“In war, truth is the first casualty.” Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) This fact was known long ago, and remains the case today. We are being subjected to a bombardment of official propaganda by Western imperialism, which is drenched in hypocrisy and cynicism. The Russian intervention in Ukraine has led to howls of condemnation from the Western imperialists…

While our TV screens are plastered with wall-to-wall news of Ukraine, a far more ominous crisis is looming at home. “For the past two years industrial action has largely paused while unions focused their energies on saving jobs threatened by coronavirus lockdowns,” writes the Financial Times.  “But in 2022, with employers battling staff shortages…

As part of the fight to clear his name in an ongoing battle against victimisation, earlier this week, on Monday 7 March, Unison president Paul Holmes submitted an application for interim relief to an employment judge.  For those who may not be familiar, interim relief is a legal pathway that allows a worker claiming victimisation to be reinstated in…

Under capitalism, women everywhere are subjected to violence, sexual assault, and often murder. News during the first COVID lockdown was filled with stories of domestic violence. The French police reported a 30% increase in domestic violence during this time. In Spain, a domestic abuse hotline received 18% more calls in the first two weeks of lockdown…

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, over 1.5 million people have fled the country. Leaders in Europe and further afield have pledged to support these refugees, with Boris Johnson and Priti Patel stating that more than 200,000 Ukrainians could be welcomed into Britain.  But this is not a benevolent act by the government. Rather…