International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Self-isolation and class consciousness

Andy Stowe — 2020-03-31T02:55:54Z

The British Conservative Party (usually referred to as the Tories) have had considerable success in their decades long project of smashing up working class organisations and atomizing working class communities. Unions are not illegal but the barriers against taking industrial action keep getting bigger. Strikes are rare. The cash in hand, informal, insecure economy employs millions of workers who are difficult to organize, even for those few unions which try.

- IV542 - March 2020 / Britain, Covid-19 Pandemic

Labour movement begins to face down the coup

Andy Stowe — 2019-09-03T15:58:49Z

Jeremy Corbyn encouraged people to take to the streets on Saturday 31 August to protest against Boris Johnson's attempt to shut down Parliament. A massive crowd filled Whitehall blockading Downing Street vocally demonstrating their opposition to what is widely perceived as a coup by the extreme right of the Tory party.

- IV536 - September 2019 / Britain

Only Labour can stop Johnson's coup

Andy Stowe — 2019-08-29T08:17:27Z

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is absolutely right to say that Tory Prime Minister Johnson's suspension of Parliament is a “very British coup”. A government of hard right ideologues is shutting down the very thing they argued should be sovereign.

- iV535 - August 2019 / Britain

Ermine robes and baseball caps

Andy Stowe — 2019-07-19T06:51:35Z

The closest thing to a Hitler rally most people alive today will have seen was Donald Trump's audience in Greenville chanting “send her back”. An enraged white mob was pouring out its racist fury against Ilhan Omar and Trump was basking in their mutual hatred of her. These people are the heirs of southern lynch mobs and church bombers. It's virtually inevitable that before the year is over some Trump supporters will start murdering migrants and black Americans. That is the logic of his choice of rhetoric.

- IV534 - July 2019 / United States (USA), Britain, Racism and Islamophobia

Council election results reveal polarised situation

Andy Stowe — 2018-05-12T10:53:34Z

Local elections took place in cities in England on Thursday 3 May 2018. The results were saw a small further shift to Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, but not as significant a success as in the snap general election in 2017. The media and Labour right had talked up the likelihood of Labour victories – as a stick to beat the leadership afterwards when these unrealistic expectations were not met. Unfortunately, some on the left fell into the trap and echoed the same message.
Labour nationally did not project forward a strong anti-austerity message; one which made promises about a Labour government restoring funding to local government which has been significantly decreased by the Tories. This was a particularly unfortunate omission in the context that the majority of those standing as Labour councillors are not Corbyn supporters and that most local manifestos only talk about managing scarce resources.

In this context it was not surprising that most of those who voted on 3 May were committed supporters of one party or another – rather than the pattern we saw in the 2017 general election where Labour turned out many people to vote for their radical manifesto that had not voted before or for a long time. This time we saw a much more static and polarized situation. [International Viewpoint]

- IV520 - May 2018 / Britain

Why is the DUP so reactionary?

Andy Stowe — 2017-06-17T11:06:36Z

In Britain, Theresa May's Conservative Party, who suffered significant defeats at the General election on June 8 at the hands of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour, are now trying to stitch together an agreement with one of the most reactionary parties on the continent to form a government.

- IV509 - June 2017 / Britain, Ireland

Jo Cox and the well of hatred

Andy Stowe — 2016-06-23T13:45:51Z

Labour MP Jo Cox was brutally murdered outside her constituency surgery in Yorkshire one week before the referendum on whether Britain should remain a member of the European Union, by a man with long involvement in fascist aactivties. Cox was visibly campaigning for a Remain vote and also had a history of activism around support for refugees.

- IV497 - June 2016 / Britain, Far Right, Racism and Islamophobia

Sometimes hesitant, sometimes treacherous

Andy Stowe — 2016-04-11T14:55:02Z

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn finds himself in the tricky position of being the anti-austerity leader of a party which is rather ambivalent on the subject. To compound his problem he is the anti-imperialist leader of a party which has generally taken the view that British imperialism is, all things considered, not that bad.

- Reviews section / Britain, Ireland, Historical events and figures