Archive for the ‘British Labour Party’ Category
Denys Pilash – A socialist in Ukraine – Versus Trump-Putin “realist” commentator Prof John Mearsheimer – concerning the Alaska fascist-fascist plan to carve up Ukraine
In weeks months and years to come, people all over the globe will look back at the Russian imperialist invasion of Ukraine and wonder why more people of the left failed to agree with Denys Pilash. Denys is a Ukrainian political scientist, historian, a member of the Ukrainian democratic socialist organization Sotsialnyi Rukh, and an editor at Commons: Journal of Social Criticism. Mearsheimer is a right-wing Professor who works in Chicago.
Denys Pilash (Sotsialnyi Rukh V John Mearsheimer on Democracy Now
President Trump says he is working on a “deal” to end the Russia-Ukraine war by hosting a series of meetings between the U.S., European Union, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin is insisting Russia keep areas of Ukraine that it has seized, including the long-contested Donbas region, while Zelensky is asking the U.S. for security guarantees to prevent future invasion by its powerful neighbor. We host a conversation with two political scientists, University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Ukrainian democratic socialist Denys Pilash, about the likely outcome of the talks and the roots of the conflict. Mearsheimer says “the sides remain so far apart” when it comes to the possibility of a ceasefire during peace negotiations that “the best outcome would be to settle this war now.” Pilash, on the other hand, says there are still measures that can be taken to pressure Russia to agree to a ceasefire and to secure more favorable postwar terms for Ukraine.
Read the rest of this entry »Glastonbury to be banned after Kneecap insulted Keir Starmer on stage
Many thanks to Simon Pearson for alerting us to this wonderful news.
Link :
https://bsky.app/profile/anticapitalistmusings.com
We are betting that most readers know all about the Belfast rap band Kneecap – but have never heard of Bob Vylan.
You have heard of Bob now ;
It was someone called Bob Vylan who caused horror and disgust when he displayed the words: “Free Palestine. United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a conflict.”
Bob knows how to rub salt on Keir Starmer’s wounds :
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Bob Vylan started chanting: “Death, death, to the IDF!”
How was this allowed to happen?
Source :
Jun 28, 2025
It’s fair to say this year’s Glastonbury has been an enormous headache for supporters of genocide, particularly the prime minister.
Read the rest of this entry »European Law might overrule bigoted British Supreme Court Anti-Transgender ruling in 6 County bit of Ireland – since Brexit, the north is different from Great Britain
Voters in the 6 County bit of Ireland rejected Brexit in the 2016 British State referendum by a large margin : 55 to 45 per cent. This was a unique political event – opposition to Brexit broke down the normal sectarian divide on an important constitutional development in the north of Ireland : Almost all nationalists voted against Brexit, and they were joined by a significant number of Unionist (perhaps ex-Unionist) voters.
Afterwards a decision was needed : would a new European Union (EU) – Britain border divide the 6 and 26 county bits of Ireland – or would a new border emerge, dividing the island of Great Britain from all of Ireland?
Everybody knew a new Brexit border could not be imposed on Ireland. The British government needed window-dressing for its Unionist allies : the “Windsor Framework” was unveiled with a walk-on part for the reluctant British monarch King Charles.
This rickety constitutional construction kicked a sleeping dog. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement. copperfastened an imperialist crime – the 1922 partition of Ireland. A promise that partition could be ended through an internal 6 county referendum is part of the GFA – but this was never meant to happen. The architects of the GFA reasoned, correctly in 1998, that an anti-partition majority in the north of Ireland was extremely unlikely. The Unionist Veto was safe. After Brexit, not any more.
The former Fine Gael leader and taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is saying out loud what many people know is true but do not want to hear :
A Nigel Farage-led UK goverment could herald a united Ireland – Varadkar
Read the rest of this entry »Keir Starmer’s crazy comment about pro Palestine Kneecap playing at Glastonbury – ex taoiseach Leo Varadkar raps British PM’s loony statement
Irish Rap performers Kneecap are booked to play at a huge music festival in Glastonbury, but British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thinks that’s not “appropriate”. Starmer’s crazy comment is so off-the-wall that ex Irish taoiseach (prime minister) the ultra-conservative Leo Varadkar (Fine Gael), thought it was a gag.
Irish Times news report :
“Kneecap’s official Instagram page shared a screenshot of the article containing Mr Starmer’s comments, stating that “arming a fu*king genocide” was what’s “not appropriate”.
In a comment underneath the post, Mr Varadkar said he had thought the comment from Mr Starmer was a “gag”.
“[I] no longer hold office nor have any mandate so my views don’t count for so much anymore. I get that. But I really thought this was some sort of gag. It’s the role of artists to be avant garde, inappropriate, challenging, disruptive – from James Joyce to Sex Pistols and Playboy,” he said.”
See also at this link :
Starmer claims Kneecap Glastonbury set “not appropriate”
The Issue is Genocide in Palestine
Read the rest of this entry »Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
An important left-wing conference in solidarity with Ukraine took place in Brussels on March 26 and 27 2025. We will present a number of reports from this conference in the next few days. Here is the first item – written by Simon Pirani who publishes a People and Nature blog.
Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
By Simon Pirani. Based on a talk given at a panel, “What peace?”, at the Solidarity with Ukraine event this week in Brussels
“What peace?” is a wide question. To narrow it down, we can ask: what sort of peace is being discussed among Ukrainians?
In an interview about the Trump-Putin talks, and the prospects for any agreement, our comrade Denis Pilash, a member of Sotsialnyi Rukh, said that “Ukrainians have two things in mind when thinking about any deal: the fate of people in the occupied territories, and how to prevent Russia from restarting the war.”
These points could frame areas for agreements, he argued. He pointed to the Ukrainian government’s position that it will not recognise illegal annexations, but would accept a ceasefire followed by negotiations.
Read the rest of this entry »British General Election 2024 – Highlights and Lowlights – Loveless Landslide, Sandcastle Majority. Far-Right Hiding in Plain Sight, House of Paisley Falls in Antrim – and a Message of Hope from new MP Shockat Adam, Leicester South
Let’s start with positive news :
Shockat Adam MP, Leicester South – “This is for the people of Gaza”.
When you listen to this June 25 car-crash interview with former Leicester South Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth, you would be forgiven for thinking he was a member of the far-right racist party, Reform.
Shockat Adam was not alone. Five pro-Gaza independent candidates (including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North) are members of the new Westminster parliament :
Read the rest of this entry »British General Election 2024, GE2024 : The Scottish National party may be gaining ground on Starmer’s Unionist Labour Outfit – Election Expert John Curtice Crunches new numbers
Sometimes, a campaign alters the balance of forces in a significant manner. We can compare this fresh statistical evidence from Scotland with the real result which will appear in the early hours of Friday July 5 2024. Has British Unionist Sir Keir Starmer snatched defeat from victory in Scotland?
Link :
How John Swinney has helped repair SNP’s battered reputation – John Curtice
Sir John Curtice on how John Swinney has helped repair SNP’s ‘battered reputation’
Sir John Curtice delivers his assessment of the latest poll results from Savanta, for The Scotsman
Labour look set to make significant gains north of the border. And the SNP are at risk of falling short of their target of winning at least half of Scotland’s seats at Westminster.
However, the battle between them now looks as though it could be significantly closer than Labour had hoped and the SNP feared when Mr Sunak called the election six weeks ago.
At that point Savanta reckoned that Labour were on 37 per cent, four points ahead of the SNP. Their lead was even slightly bigger, five points, in the middle of June. Yet in today’s poll support for Labour is, at 31 per cent, six points down on the beginning of the campaign, and seven points short of the middle of June.
Read the rest of this entry »GE2024 Forecast: Final Predictions and Analysis; British General Election
Ell’s final calls for GE2024.
My final forecast for #GE2024
In the early hours of July 5 2024 we will know if this Stats for Lefties forecast is accurate. It covers Wales, Scotland, and England.
Comparing the real result with the forecast will be interesting.
Six County Statelet (Northern Ireland) predictions are here :
Six County Seat Predictions, Electoral Calculus
Tomás Ó Flatharta 