The basic arrangements of European Social Forum are now well underway. The main speakers at 30 huge plenary rallies have been decided— all but the British ones. The over seven hundred smaller meetings (seminars) proposed by different organisations, trade unions, campaigns, NGOs and political organisations have been merged into between 150 and 170 sessions, each with simultaneous translation into various European languages. Read more...

The third European Social Forum will take place in London between 14 and 17 October. It could be an enormously important, even historic event, with tens of thousands of international activists attending. But it is also part of a process, a living part of the history of the anticapitalist movement. But a crisis of leadership is gripping the movement. Read more...

The London European Social Forum is just four months away.

This paper (Workers Power) has long championed the ESF. It is a tremendous opportunity to combine the very best methods of struggle, policies and organisational initiatives from across the continent and the world. In an era of globalisation and imperialist war, this internationalism is of vital importance if we are to win even local struggles against privatisation, racism and cuts. Read more...

Two decades have passed since the British miners launched a strike to defend their pits from a huge closure programme. The strike turned into one of the most decisive economic and political struggles of the twentieth century. Mark Hoskisson looks back at this contest between the British state and the thousands of working class men and women, whom the Tory prime minister of the time, Margaret Thatcher, famously described as “the enemy within”. Read more...

More than 100 representatives of various organisations met in the City Hall, London on 13-14 December for the first preparatory assembly for the 2004 European Social Forum. A wide variety of trade unions from Britain and the continent, NGOs, local and national social forums, and political organisations participated in a lively - indeed at times stormy - debate. The presence of militants and representatives from the RMT, Unison, the T&G etc. was a big step forward and their contributions added a note of practicality into the proceedings. Read more...

Hatred for Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair runs deep in the British working class movement. So why is there no mass political alternative to New Labour, asks Mark Hoskisson? Read more...

Tony Benn’s retirement marks the end of an era for the left. Dave Telfer examines his political career and assesses the current state of the Labour left Read more...

The Socialist Alliance and the anti-capitalist movement have prompted a new “turn” by the SWP, Britain’s biggest left wing group. Colin Lloyd and Mark Hoskisson survey the issues at stake. Read more...