Banging his fist with the smack of firm government, Cameron warned the energy companies yesterday that those who engaged in oil price-fixing will face the “full force of the law”. Oh yeah? They must be quaking in their boots. Just 4 months ago when there was a huge public outcry at the surge in petrol [...]
Posts under ‘Europe’
Spain’s indignados at the crossroads
May 17th, 2013 by Tom Gill.One of the great weaknesses of Spain’s indignados movement, which this week celebrated its second birthday, has been its failure to pursue a strategy that turns power in the streets into the real power needed to change the world. In the November 2011 general elections, six months after Spaniards occupied town squares across the country, [...]
Tories are having a hissy fit, but what’s Labour’s view on Europe?
May 15th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Today we’ll see one of the most bizarre votes that the Commons have ever seen. Here we have the PLP whipped to support the government in rejecting an amendment put down to the Queen’s Speech by the Tory Right which Cameron is now supporting being tabled against his own legislative programme. This pantomime reflects the [...]
EU Referendum is really about divisions within Tory/UKIP camp
May 14th, 2013 by Andy Newman.The issue of Europe certainly makes stange bedfellows, and the cockles of Nigel Farage’s heart will have been warmed by Bob Crow’s statement yesterday: RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: RMT’s position is clear, not only should there be an early in/out referendum but also we are calling unequivocally for British withdrawal. Across Europe, and [...]
Why French radicals are marching – Interview with Mélenchon
May 8th, 2013 by Tom Gill.As French radicals march in Paris Sunday against the austerity policies of Socialist President Hollande, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, co-leader of the Left Party and last year’s Presidential election candidate for the radical Left Front, argues for a broad popular front of resistance. Interview by French Communist daily Humanite: Francois Hollande’s poll rating is very low. How do [...]
Time to break up the Euro
May 6th, 2013 by Oskar Lafontaine.The European policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming increasingly under pressure. Not only European Commission President Manuel Barroso, but also Enrico Letta, recently asked by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to form the new governnnent, have criticized her austerity policies, which have been dominant in Europe and are leading to disaster. Europe’s leaders have long been at [...]
EU Health Regulations – improving patients’ rights or more NHS privatisation in disguise?
May 6th, 2013 by Lucy Anderson.It is appalling that the recent NHS privatisation regulations have now been passed, despite a broad-based and vigorous campaign against them. The Regulations, made under Section 75 of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, essentially require all NHS services to be put out to competition unless there is only one provider capable of delivering them. [...]
Amnesty for the bosses, none for the workers
May 3rd, 2013 by Tom Gill.France’s socialist government stands accused of ditching yet another pledge after it rejected last week a campaign for an amnesty of workers convicted for offences during strikes and other protest actions. The bill, which excludes those found guilty of physical violence, is ‘an act of justice towards all employees and trade unionists struggling to keep their [...]
Italy’s centre-left is dead, long live the Italian Left!
Apr 29th, 2013 by Tom Gill.The ‘grand coalition’ between the Democratic Party and Berlusconi’s right-wing People of Liberty party means it’s time to say goodbye to the ‘centre-left’ and hello to a new Italian Left, says Marco Sferini. For the first time after the death of the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party , the bourgeois forces find themselves [...]
Merkel’s Neo-Liberal Dream for Europe Will Be Crushed
Apr 23rd, 2013 by Miguel Costa Matos.Austerity is wrong, so much we know and have repeated to each other countless times. We actively remind each other that austerity is destroying public services, massifying poverty and unemployment and imploding the economy, all this while failing to deliver on its promise of solid public or private finances. In all countries, bail-out programmes have [...]
