
Reflections on the Elections
All things lefty, Ireland and the world
by Chris Gilligan
On the 29th of March, the day that the United Kingdom (UK) was scheduled to leave the European Union (EU), the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and its former leader, Nigel Farage, organised rival pro-Brexit rallies in London. The common rallying cry on both platforms was ‘the betrayal of Brexit’.
Read more “Spiking Democracy” →by Andreas Thomsen, Head of Office RLS Brussels
At the time of writing, it is still unclear whether the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will actually participate in the 2019 European Parliament elections. If Prime Minister Theresa May manages to get the European Union Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with Brussels through the House of Commons, Brexit would stop the UK taking part.
Read more “Jeremy Corbyn’s tightrope act” →by David Jamieson
Brexit represents the latest manifestation of a deeper constitutional and political crisis affecting the British state, in which the Scottish question is a key factor. In this week’s guest post, David Jamieson outlines how the Scottish National Party (SNP) has responded to Brexit by rooting itself more firmly in political centrism and pursuing the objective of ‘independence’ within the existing economic and political order. This, he argues, has created the opportunity and necessity for a grassroots left-wing response.
Read more “Refusing to take advantage of Britain’s troubles” →by Emma Clancy
The decision of EU leaders to grant Theresa May a long extension has kicked Brexit into the long grass. But with the European Parliament elections approaching, the structural, economic and political faultlines within the European system lie badly exposed. Emma Clancy explains how another eurozone recession and continued gains for the radical right are made more likely by European rules and their unequal enforcement by the EU institutions.
Read more “The eurozone’s ‘soulless market’ and its thuggish enforcers” →by Stiofán Ó Nualláin & Seán Byers
Events have moved so fast in the past two weeks or so that has been difficult to keep pace with or make sense of them, especially since they have been accompanied by an escalation of rhetoric and the flailing of arms.
Read more “The need for socialist decisiveness” →As Britain stares down a “no deal” Brexit abyss, we head to Brussels to talk to groups across the European left. In the latest in our series of international live audience events, we place Brexit in the context of the upcoming European elections and ask whether there is a way out of this terrible mess.