Shadow of reaction descends
A spectre is haunting Europe and the world and it’s not the communist future foreseen by Marx and Engels 170 years ago. This one is epitomised by the reactionary and repressive personalities of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. With Trump’s ascendancy to his second term as US president seen alongside far right and neo-fascist leaders in parts of Europe, (Orbán in Hungary, Meloni in Italy, Wilders in The Netherlands, Kickl in Austria with Le Pen threatening in France and the AfD in Germany), the world looks a much more dangerous place. Putin may have suffered a setback with Assad’s defeat in Syria, but he is still pushing forward in Ukraine with Trump boasting he will stop the war in a day.
Frank Hansen examines the rise of the new hard right in Europe, seeing the malaise of social democracy and the intensifying crisis of global capitalism as the wellsprings of the emergence of this modern ethno-nationalism. Glyn Ford and Patrick Costello look at the impact of Trump on Europe and the boost that Trump’s election will give to these reactionary trends. These modern ultra-rightists don’t parade in jackboots and uniforms but they nonetheless seek to build cross border alliances based on hatred and fear.
Don Flynn examines more closely the likely consequences of Trump’s threatened tariff war on EU solidarity and economy while asking which way Starmer’s Labour will jump. Signs to date are of appeasement which is likely to rebound once pressures intensify to open the UK economy to US big Pharma companies, dangerous chemical treated farm produce and other profit-seeking corporations. Micheal Byaruhanga fears for Trump’s impact on Africa.
Netanyahu’s brutal war will also find further uncritical support from Trump. Israel’s unremitting destruction in Gaza, Lebanon and now northern Syria mark a new low in the history of genocide. Andy McDonald MP cites the latest Amnesty report branding Israel’s policy as genocide while echoing its call for Labour to shift its current appeasement policy. Jon Lansman reports on Standing Together, an anti-war movement born in Israel that seeks an immediate ceasefire, a hostage/prisoner release on both sides, whilst bringing together Arab and Jewish voices for peace.
Chartist recently held its AGM on the theme of ‘A new dawn or a new dark age’. Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now spoke eloquently of how the incessant bombing and killing in Gaza, supported by the US and UK, is birthing a new generation of activists, as the Vietnam war did in the 1960s. His hope is that their numbers will connect with the hundreds of thousands working for a green transition across the globe to avert climate collapse.
Bryn Jones takes a trip back 2000 years to examine the slow fall of the Roman Empire and identifies parallels with the decline of ‘Western’ empires today. Victor Anderson is unimpressed by the outcomes of COP29 which produced no satisfactory remedy for global heating and its impact, particularly on poorer developing nations.
Putin’s continuing aggression in Ukraine means the war remains the fault-line for democracy versus autocracy. Whilst the Syrian resistance movements have toppled Assad’s brutal regime and sent him scuttling to Russia Chris Ford reports on an aid delegation to the eastern front which brought supplies to the miner’s rescue brigade and met with many supporting the Ukrainian forces battling to end the occupation. His description of the Blitz-like conditions for civilians across major cities and towns and the harsh realities for front-line troops needing more military aid is coupled with an appeal for no surrender, no partition, Russian withdrawal and for a united Ukraine. Vermont senator Tanya Vyhovsky also speculates on the meaning of Trump’s victory for both US people and politics but also for the prospects for Ukraine given Trump’s appeasement of Putin and isolationist tendencies.
Back in the UK the new dawn promised by Starmer’s Labour government is not looking so bright. A £22b black hole may have cast a shadow but it should also have been a green light to tax the banks, big businesses, tech giants and fossil fuel corporations that have collectively harvested billions in lightly taxed profits. Nor is it any excuse to continue with the 14 years of austerity inflicted on public services and living standards.
Settling pay disputes and introducing the Employment Rights Bill which should provide new protections for workers was a good first step marred by the scrapping of Winter Fuel payments and the failure to drop the two-child benefit cap. Now much ground needs to be made up. Julie Ward looks at the hard-pressed arts and creative industries sector reeling under the 14 years of Tory cuts. She makes a powerful case for financial renewal to save many theatres, music and arts venues and creative industries from collapse arguing they provide vital employment but also life-enhancing pleasure for millions.
In the wake of Shabana Mahmood’s pledge for four new prisons and 6400 more prison spaces Mickey Master continues his examination of the state of our gaols and their inmates. Caitlin Barr condemns the broken pledge over student tuition fees. She argues it will worsen student living conditions whilst discouraging students from poorer backgrounds to take up further training and studies. Neither will it help the university funding crisis.
Duncan Bowie highlights the Crown’s huge land ownership and the hypocritical exploitation both of the people living in the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster and of the absence of taxation.
The message for Labour is to forge a new road with European allies. A recent survey shows a big majority for free movement and rejoining the single market. Labour must find allies in the face of a threatened trade war and US isolationism. Bending the knee to Trump will not do. We need to be on a twin track of delivering higher living standards combined with an ideological crusade against the migrant bashing, misogynistic, privatised dog-eat-dog world offered by Reform UK and the Badenoch echoing Tory Party.