Marxist Voice

Alan Woods, editor of In Defence of Marxism, discusses the current contest between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to succeed Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party.

As Alan highlights, it is a farce of democracy that a 160,000-strong reactionary rabble of Tory members will decide who becomes the next Prime Minister.

Whilst the Tory leadership candidates out-compete each other over Brexit, the right wing of the Labour Party are once again ramping up their efforts to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.

Far from being unelectable, in reality the Blairites fear that Corbyn could end up in Downing Street. Hence the endless smears and slanders - for example over antisemitism.

We cannot allow this sabotage to continue. Nor can we allow a new Prime Minister to come to power in a coronation or coup. Instead, we need to fight for a general election and a socialist Labour government.

Daniel Morley, writer for Socialist Appeal, discusses the mass movement that is taking place in Hong Kong against the repressive extradition law.

Millions have participated in the protests against the newly proposed extradition bill - this in a city of around 7.5 million. This shows the scale of the anger that exists towards the Hong Kong government, and the Beijing regime that stands behind them.

Hong Kongers are rightly terrified of seeing their democratic rights torn to shreds, as Xi Jinping seeks to shore up China against the instability of class struggle, trade wars, and international meddling.

The movement has grown in militancy since its beginning, and is now demanding the resignation of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam. The call for a general strike has also gained an echo.

The task ahead for this movement is to organise mass strike action, and to forge links with the working class internationally - particularly the workers and youth of mainland China.

On this basis, the Hong Kong protests could act as a spark to a revolutionary movement capable of transforming the world.

Hamid Alizadeh, writer for In Defence of Marxism, discusses the increasing friction between the USA and Iran, with Washington accusing the Tehran regime of attacking two oil tankers and shooting down an American drone.

The US President, with the support of belligerent influential figures like John Bolton, has escalated tensions and threatened military strikes in retaliation. But he has been forced to pull back, for now.

It is clear that the bellicose Trump administration, along with their reactionary allies in the Middle East, are looking to thwart the power and influence of Iran in the region, in order to assert their own imperialist interests.

We must oppose this sabre-rattling and warmongering. The task of overthrowing the corrupt Iranian regime belongs to the Iranian masses, not the occupants of the White House.

Fred Weston, editor of www.marxist.com, discusses the revolutionary events taking place in Sudan.

In April this year, after decades in power, long-standing dictator Omar al-Bashir was toppled by a mass movement. Following this, a military junta - the Transitional Military Council (TMC) - stepped into the vacuum.

But workers across Sudan recently shut down the economy with a powerful general strike, aimed at wrestling control from the TMC. This terrified the regime, who know that they could lose all their power and privileges.

As a result, counter-revolutionary forces have reared their head, with reactionary paramilitary groups marching through the streets of Khartoum, attacking barricades and brutally murdering activists.

This, in turn, could whip the revolution forward, as rank-and-file solider defect to defend their brothers and sisters.

The future of the Sudanese revolution therefore hangs in the balance. What is needed is to form revolutionary committees composed of workers and soldiers. The only way forward is for the masses to organise and take power.

Alan Woods, editor of In Defence of Marxism, comments on President Trump's recent state visit to Britain.

With Theresa May stepping down, Tory leadership contenders have made a lot of noise about how Britain will 'reclaim sovereignty' and 'take back control' after Brexit.

But the events surrounding Trump's visit expose this as a complete charade. Far from achieving a favourable trade deal with the USA, the Tory government is preparing the ground for American big business to sweep in and pick at whatever scraps are left of the British economy after Brexit.

The NHS is "on the table"; regulations on food quality are under threat; and no doubt environmental standards and workers' conditions will be attacked too in order to reach a deal.

This, then, is the real nature of the so-called "special relationship" between Britain and America: the relationship between a servant and his master. Trump says 'jump', and the Tories ask 'how high?'

Instead of this craven fawning, we need a socialist Labour government that will stand up to the demands of the imperialists and capitalists, and instead unite with workers and youth across the world.

In this talk from a recent London-wide meeting of the Marxist Student Federation, Daniel Morley discusses the Tiananmen student protests that shook the regime in China 30 years ago.

The Tiananmen square protests were the largest student movement in history, with over 1 million involved at the height of the demonstrations.

But, as Daniel explains, the protests were not confined just to students. Workers across Beijing also came out in support of the movement, and the initial wave of soldiers sent in to repress the protestors ended up sympathising with them.

In the end, however, the opportunity was lost for the protests to extend and develop into a broader movement of workers and students, despite demands for a general strike being raised.

As a result, the movement ebbed. Facing more intense repressive measures, the demonstrators left in the infamous Beijing central square were forced to accept defeat.

Daniel outlines the history leading up to the Tiananmen movement, showing how ultimately this was a rebellion against the liberal economic reforms being carried out by the bureaucracy, which were leading to rising inequality and inflation.

Today, with the Chinese ruling class increasing the exploitation and repression of workers and youth in China, the scene is set for a new explosive mass movement.

In this talk from a recent London-wide meeting of the Marxist Student Federation, Hamid Alizadeh - writer for In Defence of Marxism - discusses the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and the links between jihadi organisations and Western imperialism.

After every barbaric terrorist attack, right-wing politicians and commentators attempt to whip up the idea of a "clash of civilisations" between Muslims and the Arab world, on one side, and liberal Western democracies, on the other.

But the inconvenient truth is that the ruling class in the West is behind the origins of Islamic fundamentalism as a political force.

As Hamid explains, political Islamic groups like the Muslim Brotherhood were built up historically as a counter-balance to left-wing Arab nationalism in Egypt and elsewhere.

In Afghanistan, meanwhile, the Taliban were originally supported by US imperialism in their fight against the Soviet Union.

And the jihadi terrorism seen across the world today is an export of the reactionary Wahhabi clerics in Saudi Arabia, backed by the rotten Saudi monarchy and their imperialist paymasters.

The fight against fundamentalism and terrorism today, therefore, must be linked to a revolutionary struggle against imperialism and capitalism.

In this talk from a recent meeting of the Marxist Student Federation in London, Francesco Merli - writer for www.marxist.com - examines the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and discusses the solution to the crisis in the Middle East.

The chaotic situation in Israel and Palestine is one imperialism's worst ever crimes. By dividing up Palestine and creating the Zionist state of Israel, the imperialists transformed the region - in the words of Leon Trotsky - into "a bloody trap" for both Jews and Arabs.

Over 70 years on from the creation of Israel, and the mass displacement that this caused, the oppression of the Palestinian people continues unabated.

Indeed, conditions inside Gaza are deteriorating by the day, and the Israeli state's colonisation of the West Bank is growing. With Netanyahu's recent re-election, there is seemingly no end in sight to this catastrophe.

Under capitalism, there is no solution to this crisis. A single state would be either an apartheid state, or would involve driving millions of Jews from their homes. A two state setup, meanwhile, would never be tolerated by the Israeli ruling class, and would anyways leave Palestine dominated by its imperialist neighbour.

The only solution, as Francesco emphasises, is for a Socialist Federation in the Middle East.

Alan Woods - editor of In Defence of Marxism - discusses the battle in the Labour Party over the question of a second referendum.

The Tories are torn apart over Brexit. Yet rather than uniting behind their party leader, right-wing Labour MPs are putting all of their energies into attacking Jeremy Corbyn.

Sooner or later, judgement day will come for Theresa May, and the opportunity for Corbyn’s Labour to form a government will present itself. But how will Corbyn deal with the wreckers in his ranks and the question of the EU?

At some point, Corbyn will face a choice: submit to the sabotage of the markets and the Blairite Fifth Column, or break with the bosses’ Europe and the capitalist system.

Alan explains that the Corbyn movement must prepare for this showdown now. And that means arguing the case boldly for a radical transformation of society – for a Socialist United States of Europe.

In this video from the 2018 Revolution Festival, Francesco Merli of In Defence of Marxism (www.marxist.com) discusses the events and lessons of the 1968 Prague Spring - a revolt against the Stalinist bureaucracy that was put down by Moscow.

In 1968, over 50 years ago, USSR-backed tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring. But could the movement have been successful?

The Prague Spring was a movement with the potential to develop into a socialist political revolution against the Communist Party bureaucracy, possibly with far-reaching consequences.

For this reason, over the last half century, this inspiring episode has been slandered by Stalinists, co-opted by liberals, and distorted by both.

In this talk, Francesco Merli provides the real story of the 1968 Prague Spring, outlining why it was defeated, and discussing its importance for revolutionaries today.