Socialism

50 years ago, workers' action could have stopped the Troubles. Then the British state sent the troops into Northern Ireland. What are the lessons for today?

Friday the 16th of August 2019 is the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre. Armed forces charged a peaceful mass protest demanding political representation in the fight for bread, jobs and living pay.

This bloody response to workers’ political organisation in 1819 laid bare the truth that the state is not a neutral body representing the best interests of all classes. It has many lessons for today about the roots of capitalism in Britain - and the lengths the capitalist state will go to when faced with a political crisis.

And stay listening at the end for our new segment on the latest workers’ struggles, and what socialists are fighting for in response to recent national events.

Unpredictable, volatile and unstable: three words which sum up the situation facing new Tory prime minister Boris Johnson. This right-wing populist is quick to make promises. But he’s presiding over the same slow-motion car crash of British capitalism and the Conservative Party that destroyed Theresa May. With a snap election ever more inevitable, this episode we ask: what are the prospects for the new PM, and for capitalism in Britain?

Figures associated with the youth climate strikes have raised the idea of students and workers taking part in an "Earth strike" in September. The fact that young people are looking towards the organised working class is a very positive development. But what would this entail? This episode, we ask Paula Mitchell of the Socialist Party's executive committee how we can build workers’ action in support of the climate movement.

Bosses at the Ford Motor Company are trying to close the engine factory at Bridgend in South Wales. Hundreds of workers could lose their well-paid, skilled jobs, and thousands more workers in the supply chain could be affected. The closure threat follows a series of high-profile crises in industry and retail, and Ford’s own record of whittling down its workforce in Britain. What kind of action is necessary to save the jobs. And how could socialist policies tackle the cause of this raft of closures? We ask Rob Williams, chair of the National Shop Stewards Network, speaking in a personal capacity.

Two years after the preventable disaster at Grenfell Tower, justice and safety are still not secure. A fire in flats in Barking, east London, underlines the ongoing threat caused by the profit drive in the housing sector. How can woking-class residents fight back? We speak to Paul Kershaw, chair of the Unite union housing workers' branch, and Pete Mason, chair of the Barking Reach Residents' Association.

Across the continent of Europe, the 2019 EU elections showed growing polarisation and turmoil. Why is that? We speak to Bob Labi of the Committee for a Workers' International.

What do Britain's highly polarised 2019 EU election results really represent? And what is the way forward for working-class and young people to oust the Tories and end austerity? We speak to Socialist Party deputy general secretary Hannah Sell.

Isai Priya, from Tamil Solidarity, joins us in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka to discuss the outrages and the social and political situation in the country.

Useful further reading:

• Statement in response to the attacks: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/29014/22-04-2019/sri-lanka-no-to-terrorist-bombing-united-workers-struggle-can-cut-off-growth-of-racism-and-division

• Listen to episode 26 of the podcast: https://soundcloud.com/socialismpodcast/26-terrorism

• Political crisis in Sri Lanka: http://www.tamilsolidarity.org/crisis-sri-lanka/

• Following attacks on the Muslim community in 2018: http://www.socialistworld.net/index.php/international/asia/sri-lanka/9689-sri-lanka-end-all-attacks-on-the-muslim-community-immediately

• ‘Black July 1983 and the beginning of the civil war’: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/774/17112/17-07-2013/black-july-sri-lanka-1983-and-the-beginning-of-civil-war

Niall Mulholland, from the Committee for a Workers’ International, discusses a socialist approach to the national question and how that applies to Northern Ireland today.

Useful further reading:

• ‘Ireland North - Brexit crisis and the role of the workers’ movement’: http://socialistworld.net/index.php/international/europe/ireland-north/10157-ireland-north-brexit-crisis-and-the-role-of-the-workers-movement

• ‘Belfast ‘Good Friday Agreement’ – what has it delivered 20 years on?’: http://socialistworld.net/index.php/international/europe/ireland-north/9748-ireland-s-good-friday-agreement-what-s-it-delivered-20-years-on

• ‘Beyond the Troubles’ by Peter Hadden: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/ireland/

• ‘The real ideas of James Connolly’: http://www.socialismtoday.org/100/connolly.html

• ‘Scotland’s referendum – a working class revolt’: http://www.socialismtoday.org/182/scotland.html

• ‘National liberation, socialism and imperialism’, a collection of Lenin’s work: http://leftbooks.co.uk/epages/950002679.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950002679/Products/LENI0003

• ‘The Permanent Revolution’ and ‘Results and Prospects’: http://leftbooks.co.uk/epages/950002679.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950002679/Products/TROT0003