INTERNATIONAL Workers’ Day is a time to reaffirm a simple but powerful truth: workers across the world share more in common with each other than with their own ruling classes, who hold them back.

This message is more vital than ever, as Trump and his far-right allies fuel a global reactionary wave — scapegoating minorities, stoking racism and promoting bigotry from attacks on trans rights to restrictions on a woman’s right to choose.

Divide and rule is their playbook. They’re using this tried and tested tactic to get workers to turn on each other, to distract from the real causes of their suffering, and to protect the privileges of the elites.

That was clear with the image of Trump at his inauguration surrounded by the world’s wealthiest men. This is the true face of this new global right: billionaires cloaking themselves in the language of ”the people” while robbing ordinary people blind.

But our movement has always had an answer to scapegoating and division: unity and solidarity. As the great Cuban poet Jose Marti said: ”Humanity is our homeland.”

So, let’s be guided by those words and treat everyone with compassion and respect, and work to build a world where everyone has real opportunities.

No International Workers’ Day can pass at this time without expressing our unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people.

We are witnessing a genocide live-streamed in real time: tens of thousands murdered with impunity. Children starved. Hospitals bombed. War crime after war crime. And yet, it no longer even makes the front pages of the mainstream media.

Does anything expose the inhumanity of our capitalist system more than the indifference of so many governments? Of course, sadly, some governments — including our own — are not merely standing by but helping to arm Israel, including with the world’s most powerful fighter jets.

The hypocrisy is glaring: sanctions are rightly imposed on Russia for its illegal invasion, yet simply refused when it comes to Israel.

We must change that. I was proud to attend the launch of The Hague Group — a new coalition of governments pushing for co-ordinated sanctions on Israel. We must build a global movement for justice in Palestine, including sanctions on Israel, until freedom is secured — just as was done with apartheid South Africa.

Palestine lays bare the deep injustices that scar the current world order. It also underscores how the world is growing ever more dangerous as international law is cast aside.

The Doomsday Clock is inching closer to midnight — not only because of the climate catastrophe but also because of the growing risk of world war and nuclear conflict.

Trump’s so-called ”trade war” with China pours more fuel on the fire. It’s already damaging the global economy and will drive up costs for working people. But for Trump, that’s a price worth paying — as long as it’s ordinary people who pay it — while he tries to reorganise much of the world behind US efforts to confront China.

But economic wars can easily escalate into real wars. We need to be clear: a war between the US and China would be an all-out nuclear war. The consequences are simply too horrific to imagine.

Across Europe, governments are demanding ever greater military budgets, even as public services are slashed. That’s clearly the wrong priority.

As Tony Benn said: ”If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people.” That should be the slogan of our time.

So, as we celebrate May Day, let’s raise our voices for peace and co-operation, and say no to militarisation and yes to social investment. We need governments to be investing in all the challenges workers face — from climate catastrophe, falling wages, crumbling public services, and spiralling inequality.

Opposing Trump and the far-right surge is essential — but it isn’t enough. Their answers are bogus, and we must counter them with bold solutions of our own. We must paint a vision of the world we want to see — one based on our values of socialism, peace, and justice.

At the core of that must be tackling the economic inequality that blights billions of lives. The super rich are clearly out of control. According to Oxfam, the world’s five richest men have doubled their wealth since 2020, while nearly five billion people have been pushed backwards.

In Britain alone, billionaires’ wealth increased by £35 million every single day in 2024.

This is not a cost-of-living crisis — it’s a cost-of-greed crisis. But without real action, wealth will become even more concentrated in the hands of a small elite.

They will buy up more homes in our communities, take over more social care homes, and get their hands on more of our public services — leaving ordinary people struggling to afford the basics.

So, our movement must demand that the super rich pay their fair share. That’s how we rebuild public services, tackle poverty, and create a more equal society — the kind of change people are crying out for.

I’ve been campaigning for wealth taxes in Britain. This May Day, let’s commit to turning that into a global movement to tackle the great injustices workers all over the world face.

And let’s apply the same principle to climate action. When they say there’s no money to tackle the huge disruption climate change will bring, we should point out a simple truth: the very same oil companies that brought us to the brink of climate disaster have been raking in billions in super-profits at the expense of ordinary people. So, let’s make these mega-polluters pay for the climate action we need all across the world.

Our world is increasingly marked by division, war, scapegoating, and poverty. Our job is to keep the flame of socialism, peace, and justice alive and to fight for the rights of working people everywhere.

May Day is an opportunity to recommit to building a world where humanity comes before profit, solidarity crosses every border, and where hope triumphs over hate. That better world is not only possible — it’s necessary. And together, if we fight for it, we can win.