European Union

Building the ‘Left Against Brexit’

The Left Against Brexit is an initiative that seeks to take back what should be the common-sense left wing position on Brexit, and stand out from the more centrist establishment anti-Brexit campaigns. David Miliband may believe speaking out with Nicky Morgan and Nick Clegg from a rice factory will do the trick. We don’t. The left has slipped back on its ideas around the EU since the referendum. A lot of the left and not just in the Labour Party, is of the view that is it better to keep your head down and hope for a Labour government to sort it out. I think that is totally misplaced for a...

The four Bastanis and the EU

The commentator Aaron Bastani, who has gained some profile on the Labour left from his Novara Media platform, will debate us on Brexit at our summer school, Ideas for Freedom, on 23-24 June. In late May he responded to an article in the Observer by political editor Toby Helm, reporting pressure from Labour members for a real debate on Brexit at Labour conference 2018, by accusing Helm (a routine journalist who used to work for the Daily Telegraph ) of publishing an “AWL press release”. We challenged Bastani to debate Brexit. He agreed to debate Brexit with us two years ago, in a fringe meeting...

EU left refuses to condemn Russian abuse

On 14 June the left bloc in the European Parliament voted against a motion demanding Russia release Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and 70 other Ukrainian political prisoners. It was official policy of the left bloc, GEU/NGL, to vote against the motion. Only six members of the 52-strong faction rebelled: five by voting for, and one by abstaining. The GUE/NGL has not issued a statement explaining its opposition to the motion. 485 MEPs voted for the motion. 76 voted against. And 66 abstained. Those who voted against the motion were almost entirely members of the far right factions in the...

Brexit document passed at AWL Conference 2017

In the context of a surge in the fortunes of right-wing and nationalist political parties and movements worldwide, including in France and Germany, the European Union’s ‘twin engine’, it is more important than ever that we promote the internationalist perspectives of the Marxist movement, and assert that the workers have no country. In the UK, the seeming demise of UKIP masks the fact that the Conservative Party has embraced much of their core values and political agenda. On the left too there are people – people influential with Jeremy Corbyn – from the Morning Star/Communist Party of Britain...

Why Greece’s “left government” failed

The Syriza election was a reflection of the hard, militant class struggle by the working class and neighbourhood community movements against the attacks of the “Black Block” Memorandum governments of the years 2010 to 2012. Syriza gave political substance to this movement, and it carried all of this movement’s political contradictions. The movement had only a vague idea of what it expected of the Syriza government. It expected some form of relief, to get rid of the Memorandum laws and privatisation, to restore wages and pensions and collective bargaining, to give some right to housing. These...

Open borders for people!

Editorial from Solidarity 463 The Labour Party has inched a step further to opposing the erection of new barriers between Britain and Europe. That brings the immediate prize of a possibility, within the next few weeks, of defeating the Government in Parliament over its desire to take Britain out of the European customs union. It should also open a thorough discussion in Labour over Europe, leading to a debate at the Labour Party conference in September. At the September 2017 Labour conference, Brexit debates were, lamentably yet largely thanks to a push by sections of the left, squeezed off...

Defend migrants, defend free movement, fight for socialism!

Look around the world. Look at EU migrants who have made the UK their home now wondering how long they can stay and on what terms, all under the threat of Brexit. If they want to stay, they will have to apply for “settled status”. 1.2 million UK citizens living in other EU member states face similar anxieties. There are 3.7 million non-UK EU citizens in the UK; about 6% of the population and 7% of the working population. Look just across the Channel — at Calais, which has long been a focus for migrants trying to reach the UK. Now that the French authorities have cleared out the migrant camps...

Why we need to stop Brexit

The resignation of the Blairite Lord Adonis from his position as adviser to the Tory government has shown the issue of Brexit, and whether or not to try and stop it, is not over in the Labour Party. A new survey has suggested that allegedly 78% of Labour members want Brexit to be stopped or at least want a second referendum. Up until last year’s election the right-wing of Labour (notably Progress) had only half-heartedly taken up the issue of stopping Brexit. They avoided directly opposing Brexit because they feared the electoral power of nationalistic sentiment. They couched their opposition...

Norwegian, Swiss, or workers' road

Editorial from Solidarity 457 The Tories' deal with the EU to open talks on future trade links suggests that they are headed on the Norwegian or Swiss road. In February 2014 Switzerland voted in a referendum, by a narrow majority based outside the big cities, to mandate a constitutional amendment imposing quotas on immigration. Switzerland is currently in the Schengen passport-free area, and has a much higher rate of immigration than Britain. By December 2016 the Swiss government had fixed a fudge. Swiss employers are now obliged to offer jobs first to job-seekers registered at Swiss job...

Labour: Come out against Brexit!

Editorial from Solidarity 456 Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott declared last month: "I will argue for the right of the electorate to vote on any deal that is finally agreed" (on Brexit). On 2 December, Jeremy Corbyn added: "We’ve not made any decision on a second referendum". An opinion poll on 1 December showed that a 68%-19% majority of Labour voters want a referendum on whatever Brexit deal the Tories produce. A 50%-34% majority of the whole electorate also wants a referendum before a deal can go ahead. As we go to press on 5 December, we cannot tell whether the Tories can bodge together...

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