Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
As the United Kingdom exits the EU, the political scene has all the trappings of a restoration. The Tories are back in office with their largest majority since the 1980s, thanks to the long-ignored northern working class. The UK is resuming the offshore relationship to the project of European (...)
What happened?
Like many others on the left, we got the election result seriously wrong. Most thought a hung Parliament or even a Labour minority government was a real possibility. It was not.
Brexit shattered voting loyalties established over lifetimes and, along with Britain’s notorious (...)
Labour is the only party with a chance of forming the next Westminster government which is committed to giving us a second referendum on Brexit writes Andy Stowe. Remainers should vote Labour in England and Wales. Brexit supporters who think Johnson’s deal is poor should also vote Labour. The (...)
The British General Election campaign is off to a flying start. The election formally began with the dissolution of Parliament on the 6th of November and will be concluded on the 12th of December 2019. Needless to say, the 5 week campaign period as compared to the US is rather short (and much (...)
In December’s UK election, everything will be up for grabs. The Tories are nervous, but Labour has its work cut out for it. Above all, it must shift the focus of debate from the Brexit melodrama to the ravages of austerity.
The UK electorate is off to the polls again, for the fourth general (...)
In the parallel universe that exists between today’s fake Queens speech and the so-called ‘special session’ of Parliament on Saturday – that does not yet have anything to discuss – support for holding a second referendum before a general election has been gaining ground.
This is particularly strong amongst Labour MPs, including John McDonnell, Diane Abbott, Emily Thornbury, Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey. I find it very convincing.
Yesterday, on Marr, Rebecca (...)
Other contributions to the debate on this site, notably by Phil Hearse and Kate Hudson, have rightly emphasized the urgency of the tasks facing us as socialists and internationalists, given the dangers of a Boris Johnson victory at the inevitable general election in the near future, and the (...)
The British political crisis continues, with the latest developments consolidating the hard right takeover of the Tory Party and Government that began with the Brexit referendum in 2016 and is now leading to the development of a potentially mass neo-fascist movement. This is taking place (...)
One of the first things Boris Johnson did on becoming Prime Minister was to give himself the title of ‘Minister for the Union’ and head to Scotland to try to shore up the collapsing Tory vote and prevent independence.
The constitutional crisis that has erupted over the coup proroguing parliament (...)
To date articles in Conter addressing Brexit have concentrated more on the neo-liberal opposition, and those on the Left perceived to be tail-ending this section of the British ruling class, writes Allan Armstrong of the Radical Independence Campaign. [1]
There has been no real analysis of the (...)
It is a tumultuous time in British politics, writes Susan Pashkoff.
Parliament returned from its summer recess on September 3 to a new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, elected by only Tory members following Theresa May resignation as Prime Minister.
The Tory government had a working majority of (...)
Brexit was always going to end in an attack on democracy. The two can’t be separated.
This is always how it was going to end. Brexit is useful to the establishment because it takes a narrative about who is to blame for years of falling living standards – foreigners – and tries to put it on the (...)
The lies and duplicity surrounding the Brexit campaign have been highlighted at great length since 2016. In retrospect, we can see that the activities of Facebook and other networks in that campaign constituted a qualitatively new phenomenon in the undermining of democracy.
‘Fake news’ and the (...)
Jeremy Corbyn encouraged people to take to the streets on Saturday 31 August to protest against Boris Johnson’s attempt to shut down Parliament writes Andy Stowe. A massive crowd filled Whitehall blockading Downing street vocally demonstrating their opposition to what is widely perceived as a (...)
John McDonnell is absolutely right to say that Johnson’s suspension of Parliament is a “very British coup”, writes Andy Stowe. A government of hard right ideologues is shutting down the very thing they argued should be sovereign.
This is a serious challenge to the the entire British labour (...)
British politics exploded into chaos again with the news that the Queen will shut down Parliament on Boris Johnson’s request. The move is aimed at preventing MPs from stopping any no-deal Brexit — another sign that Britain is headed for a general election fought against the backdrop of Brexit (...)
The ancient institutions of the British state are well past their sell-by date. Only a radical shake-up can resolve the crisis.
“Defend democracy – resist the parliament shutdown”. This is the rallying call of protestors gathering today to oppose Boris Johnson’s proroguing of parliament .
To be (...)
If you kept your head in the sand, you could make believe that things are much as they were ten or twenty years ago. The August Bank Holiday is here and the Notting Hill Carnival looks like it will have good weather – just like the old days (sometimes). The media is full of another royal (...)
The fact that much of the anti-Brexit movement is dominated by centrist and establishment politicians is not in doubt. For everyone on the left, it has been exasperating to watch Alastair Campbell and Anna Soubry reinvent themselves as heroes with a mass audience. The movement’s often literally (...)
With Parliament neutralised by the summer recess, battle lines are being drawn for the biggest constitutional crisis in modern times when it comes back next month, writes Alan Davies. With his ‘War Cabinet’ rammed with hard-line Brexiteers, and with Nigel Farage looking over his shoulder, Johnson (...)
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