Issue 34 Summer 2019 the Socialist Correspondent

Articles featured in Issue 34

Brexit and capitalist rivalries
Tuesday, June 25, 2019

May has been forced out at last, unable to sell her unpopular Brexit deal to parliament. The two leadership contenders to replace her both promise to carry through on Brexit, yet that is not what the ruling class wants. While this saga drags on in Britain, the EU continues to get on with other business, mainly jockeying for the top jobs post the EU elections and dealing with its own internal conflicts.
Read more...
Disunity in the European Union
Wednesday, June 19, 2019

The European Union is often portrayed as a harmonious, collaborative body but take a closer look and there are many disputes between member states and with other countries. in particular there are growing tensions with the United States over its tech war with China and spending on NATO.
Read more...
The new scramble for Africa
Tuesday, June 18, 2019

The major powers are once again competing over Africa. Like the earlier Scramble for Africa between 1881 and 1914 – when the European imperialists divided up 90% of the continent between them – this is about gaining valuable resources and controlling them against rivals.
Read more...
Local elections - what are voters telling us?
Monday, June 17, 2019

The English local elections of May 2019 were a disaster for the Tories who lost a net 1,269 seats. Their collapse let in the Lib Dems who did not add massive numbers of votes. Their modest gains and the Tories collapse accounted for much of their progress. This shows that their success was not evidence of a major shift towards pro-EU sentiment. Labour made gains and losses but its biggest losses were in Leave voting areas. In a complicated situation Labour did well to hold its support base together.
Read more...
Dundee fights back
Sunday, June 16, 2019

Dundee is a tale of two cities - the PR image and the realities of working class life and impoverished communities. Loss of industry and cuts to local services continue to lead to job losses, however trade unions and the Labour Party are fighting back.
Read more...
Venezuela - right wing coup defeated
Saturday, June 15, 2019

The US and others are tightening the screws on Venezuela with sanctions and threats of invasion. They do not want a peaceful resolution of the country's problems, but are aiming at regime change. Despite being sponsored by the US, the anti-democratic right wing opposition failed in a recent coup attempt against the government.
Read more...
Cuba at 60
Friday, June 14, 2019

This is the 60th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, which has brought incredible gains for the people of Cuba. Its internationalism has also meant that it has spread those gains - health, literacy, disaster relief, liberation - beyond the shores of the island. Millions of people across the world have benefited. in the past Cuba has survived enormous challenges and now faces new ones.
Read more...
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions piles pressure on Israel
Thursday, June 13, 2019

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has carefully targeted its campaigns to highlight Israeli injustice against the Palestinian people. One measure of its success is the Israeli response which, while trying to close the campaign down, in fact only draws further attention to Israeli actions.
Read more...
Anti-Semitism - readers letter
Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Despite what the media would have us believe, those attacking the Labour leadership over alleged anti-Semitism within the Party do not speak for all Jews in Britain.
Read more...
NATO - 70 years of aggression
Tuesday, June 11, 2019

NATO was founded in the Cold War to advance the West's interests. 70 years on, despite the end of the Soviet Union it continues that purpose, expanding further and threatening "foes". It and its members have been implicated in recent wars which have brought misery to peoples and made our planet a dangerous place.
Read more...
The West's Cyber Wars
Monday, June 10, 2019

The development of communications and information technology has meant that conflict between states and covert operations have entered a new dimension. In the media here it is countries like Russia and China that are blamed for this but the West too engages in cyber warfare. Britain, the US and others have been involved in hacking and interfering in the politics of other countries.
Read more...
The Private Finance Initiative rip off
Sunday, June 9, 2019

Half of all council tax receipts now go on PFI interest payments. How did we get to the situation where working class people and impoverished communities are pouring money into the pockets of big companies?
Read more...
Creating places of beauty and opportunity
Saturday, June 8, 2019

From post war ideals of planning towns and land use to benefit people recent years have seen the balance divisively shift in favour of private developers. Nevertheless the Town and Country Planning Association has set out ambitious and radical proposals to reverse this trend and create places of beauty and opportunity for people to live in.
Read more...
Hope and radicalism - the future of Scotland
Friday, June 7, 2019

The Red Paper Collective publication, Time for a Radical Scottish Parliament and MSP Neil Findlay's book Socialism and Hope survey the political scene in Scotland and suggest ways forward for the left and the Scottish people.
Read more...
A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen
Thursday, June 6, 2019

Book review. A thought provoking read which follows the story of a US academic whose parents left the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He returns to capitalist Moscow in 2008 and the novel documents his struggle to adapt and the dilemmas he encounters in his life there.
Read more...