In Britain, the Brexit crisis will be a key issue in the general election. However, there will also be a clear clash of broader political visions between the right-populism of Boris Johnson and the left, anti-austerity policies of Jeremy Corbyn. Class issues like poverty, housing, workers’ rights and the future of public services can also shape the outcome. Already, funding ...
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Killing of Lyra McKee- Trade unions must show way forward
Socialist Party statement, 26 April 2019 The killing of Lyra McKee on Thursday April 19th sent a wave of shock across Northern Ireland. Lyra was only 29 but had already made a name for herself as a journalist, an author and an activist. Whilst over 3,800 have died in the “Troubles” since 1969 some killings strike a particular chord. Lyra’s ...
Read More »The Brexit Calamity & the Role of the Workers Movement
The prolonged countdown to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has thrown the Conservative government into a profound crisis. Ciaran Mulholland explains that the chaos is such that an anonymous European source has compared the UK to a “failed state”, and that the EU was able to impose its own terms when May came cap in hand seeking an ...
Read More »Brexit: Trade unionists must stand for workers’ unity
By Kevin Henry As we go to press, it is over 750 days since the Stormont institutions collapsed in the wake of the RHI. This figure is likely to rise considerably, given the sectarian games of both the DUP and Sinn Féin and the lack of any serious efforts to restart the institutions. Brexit and the uncertainty about the border ...
Read More »Britain & Northern Ireland: Tory Brexit crisis & the role of the labour movement
The scale of the defeat in Westminster of Theresa May’s UK/EU withdrawal deal, by 432 votes to 202, was devastating. According to the Daily Telegraph it was a “complete humiliation”. The Guardian referred to it as a “historic defeat”, while the Mirror summed it up with “No deal; no hope; no clue; no confidence”. The deal was only supported by ...
Read More »North- Bonfire debate can ignite conflict
In the aftermath of the Eleventh Night bonfires last year, Belfast City Council passed a Sinn Féin motion authorising the forced clearing of bonfire sites. When this policy was implemented against an anti-internment bonfire in the Divis area of west Belfast, it led to small-scale rioting. If there is an attempt to do the same this year in Protestant areas ...
Read More »Will the Agreement bring peace?- first published May 1998
The following article was first published in Socialism 2000, the precursor of Socialist Alternative, in the immediate aftermath of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement that was signed 20 years ago today. By Peter Hadden Around the world the Good Friday Agreement may have been trumpeted as an “historic compromise”, an “exercise in reconciliation” and a “step to a final ...
Read More »British state repression, the IRA’s armed campaign and the Labour Movement
Article written by Peter Hadden in 2008 Death on the rock of Gibraltar – 20 years since SAS killing of three IRA volunteers It is twenty years since the execution style killing by the SAS of three IRA members in Gibraltar. In Northern Ireland these deaths sparked a brief but particularly bloody upsurge in violence. Over the next thirteen days ...
Read More »North: Irish language becomes a sectarian football
By Kevin Henry The current political impasse in the North continues in the wake of two election campaigns which have been described as the “mother of all sectarian headcounts.” Both Sinn Féinand DUP have consolidated their positions as the largest political force in their respective communities. The current stalemate in terms of talks is a reflection of increased sectarian polarisation ...
Read More »North: Boeing bust-up threatens thousands of skilled jobs
Nationalise Bombardier! A brewing international trade dispute is threatening thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland. One thousand workers at Canadian aerospace company Bombardier’s Belfast plant are engaged in building wings for its new C-series passenger jet. Last year, Bombardier secured a major order for the planes from US airline Delta but that has now been put in jeopardy by a ...
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