Revolutionary Communist Group

Covid-19 and the eurozone's financial quagmire

Details: Created: Monday, 04 January 2021 11:16; Written by James Martin

Medicine and syringe on Euro notes and coins

Following the 2007-08 financial crisis, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Cyprus begged for support from the European Central Bank (ECB), the eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to finance both their government debts and their insolvent banks. The weaker economies had huge debts which have had to be recycled against uncertain taxes or the sale of assets. The current collapse of profitable capital accumulation means that state spending is indispensable to provide access to basic commodities for a huge section of the working class. The ruling class daily calculates the provision of credit to businesses sufficient to prevent mass protests.

Priti Patel ramps up the war on migrants

Details: Created: Monday, 04 January 2021 11:01; Written by Nicki Jameson

People hold banner reading 'REFUGEES WELCOME'

On 4 October 2020, Home Secretary Priti Patel used her speech to the Conservative Party conference to declare a vicious war on migrants in general and asylum seekers in particular, promising to bring in a ‘Fair Borders Bill’ next year to make it harder for migrants arriving other than via one of the highly restricted ‘legal routes’ to claim asylum. As Brexit looms, Patel is also playing a major role in the removal of rights from European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. NICKI JAMESON reports.

Peru: youth challenge presidential figures

Details: Created: Monday, 04 January 2021 11:10; Written by Alvaro Michaels

In November 2020, years of pent-up anger among young people against the political class reached boiling point. The expulsion of President Martin Vizcarra from office by Congressional members objecting to his mild reforms and his replacement by his deputy provoked mass demonstrations by Peruvian youth. These were violently attacked by the police. Worried and frustrated by the response to their machinations, Congress imposed a third President to try to calm the protests. ALVARO MICHAELS reports.

The rise and fall of Corbynism

Details: Created: Thursday, 03 December 2020 10:49; Written by Robert Clough

Corbyn with Len McCluskey after leadership victory

Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corby by Garbriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire, Bodley Head, 376pp, £18.99 hardback.
This LAnd: The Story of a Movement by Owen Jones, Allen Lane, 336pp, £20 hardback.

Reviewing these two books on Corbyn and his meteoric ascent into the leadership of the Labour Party after decades on the back-benches, and his disastrous performance in the 2019 general election requires a conceptual framework which can explain both. Neither of these books presents one which adequately explains this period in the history of the Labour Party. Both concentrate on the internal battles within Labour and how the party under Corbyn’s leadership responded to media pressures, but are unable to answer two basic questions: why was Corbyn elected, and was his defeat inevitable?

Normalisation with Zionism masks anti-Palestinian betrayal

Details: Created: Saturday, 28 November 2020 13:54; Written by Wesam Khaled

President Donald J. Trump, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyanisigns sign the Abraham Accords Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

2020 has seen a significant shift towards normalisation with the Israeli state. In just over two months, recognition agreements were announced between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan. Where previously the end to the occupation of Palestine had been held up as a precursor to forming any such relations, these agreements have bypassed and undermined the Palestinian liberation struggle; Palestine’s false friends in the region are showing their true colours. WESAM KHALED reports.