Facing economic turmoil, Jim Callaghan’s government rejected Tony Benn’s alternative economic strategy in favour of cuts that paved the way for Thatcherism — and the cuts-loving Labour of the present era, writes KEITH FLETT
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Iran: pressure mounts from outside and within
As tensions rise in the Middle East, the role of Iran in the region’s political balance becomes ever more significant. STEVE BISHOP assesses the current situation
EMPTY POSTURE: Children accost Donald Trump in effigy during the annual Quds Day march against Israel in Tehran
The economic value of disability benefits far outweighs their cost, argues Dr DYLAN MURPHY
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
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
IN HIS first term as US president, Donald Trump tore up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which had been agreed by Barack Obama in 2015, primarily to constrain Iran’s uranium enrichment programme in exchange for some sanctions relief.
For Trump, this was simply a case of Obama being “soft” on Iran, and from 2018 a policy of “maximum pressure” was adopted towards Iran, with any compromise or negotiation off the table.
The Biden administration did not fundamentally change this approach, and to all intents and purposes, foreign policy under Biden was a continuation of that under Trump in relation to Iran.
More from this author
The annual Fenner Brockway Lecture, hosted by Liberation, was delivered this year by Peter Mertens, Chair of the Workers’ Party of Belgium. STEVE BISHOP reflects on some of the highlights of Mertens’ address
STEVE BISHOP argues that the US failure to restrain Israel is pushing the region towards wider war, with an attack on Iran likely to have devastating consequences
Iran’s women’s rights movement now joins widespread unrest, as pensioners, steelworkers and students unite against corruption, repression and economic mismanagement by the theocratic regime, writes STEVE BISHOP
As the election rapidly approaches STEVE BISHOP highlights the need for a progressive foreign policy
