While slashing welfare and public services, Labour’s spring statement delivers a bonanza for death-dealing bomb merchants. We now see the true and terrible face of austerity 2.0, writes MICHAEL BURKE
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The French left and right face a final showdown this Sunday
The second and final vote this weekend pits the National Rally against a ‘Republican Front’ of leftists and centrists — but will the more right-wing side of this hastily assembled pact hold up, or will it side with Le Pen, asks ARKA BHADURI
Detailing the deluge of delusion and dishonesty pushed by the pro-war camp, IAN SINCLAIR identifies four key tactics corporate journalists use to confuse audiences and suppress opposition to the proxy war in the east
From ‘moral duty’ to ‘military Keynesianism,’ Labour manipulates language to justify slashing welfare but pouring billions into warfare, condemning communities like Glasgow South West to deeper poverty, writes MATT KERR
With politicians dismissing constituents’ fears of global war, the peace movement must look beyond Parliament to prevent catastrophe, writes TOM MORRISON
The mass movement supporting Palestine represents potential political power that the left must now embrace as central to its strategy, writes HUGH LANNING, ahead of this Saturday’s Socialism or Barbarism day school in London
Health Secretary Wes Streeting taking £53k from Tory-linked recruiter and outsourcer Peter Hearn’s OPD Group is a great example of how Labour’s rich donors shape policies targeting the poor – not their wealth, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
MAT COWARD recalls the communist and pacifist aristocrat whose commitment made a difference in the Spanish civil war, the Blitz and WWII Europe
WITH Britain’s election being staged in the very middle of the two rounds of the French election, a “tale of two countries” is unfolding this week.
While the predictions for Britain’s election left relatively little room for speculation, the world will be eagerly watching as the French go to vote in the second round of their snap parliamentary election on Sunday July 7.
The first round of the French election took place on June 30 with 33.15 per cent votes cast in favour of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN), 27.99 per cent votes in favour of the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, and 20.04 per cent votes going to President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling centrist coalition Ensemble.
The popular support for the French far right in the outcome of the European Parliament’s election on June 9 was the precise threat under which President Macron dissolved the National Assembly and announced the snap election.
The same threat brought the hitherto fragmented leftist forces together. The NFP is a coalition formed by the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Greens, and the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI).
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As deadly police violence escalates and fiery protests spread, ARKA BHADURI explains how a fight for fair recruitment for public service jobs has become a challenge to the ruling Awami League’s grip on power
With the main opposition party boycotting the polls the Awami League is guaranteed to win yet another term, writes ARKA BHADURI
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As heavy industry flees and public-sector strikes paralyse the nation, the French leader’s increasingly desperate attempts to rule without a majority reveal the deep crisis at the heart of European liberal democracy, writes KEVIN OVENDEN
The Melenchon-led NFP coalition now holds most Assembly seats, challenging the president’s anti-worker agenda — the far-right threat remains, but the path to progressive government is now open, writes DENNIS BROE
Can the conservative, centre and left of French politics work out a complex dance of candidates standing aside for each other to prevent an outright, far-right victory this Sunday? NICK WRIGHT assesses