After the ball is over

 “Many the hopes that have vanished, after the ball” goes the old song – much like Keir Starmer’s pipe dreams about the Trump state visit this week. Two days have gone in a flash. Donald Trump’s been and gone. The Donald was treated to an unaccustomed right royal pageant at Windsor Castle which no doubt went down well with his MAGA constituency back home. Starmer however got nothing out of the visit – which was entirely predictable to everyone apart from the sycophants and flatterers that the Labour leader surrounds himself with these days.
They say Starmer and his clapped-out old Blairite advisers genuinely believed that the American president could be wooed by a red-carpet meeting with the King into cutting tariffs and making other trade concessions to the UK at any given time. Openly talking about Trump as if he was a gullible, vain old fool wasn’t such a good idea. Revealing your hand (and it was a very weak one) in advance to the mainstream media for all to see only compounded the folly. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. This, after all, the government that appointed Peter Mandelson ambassador to Washington in the first place... 

There may be trouble ahead

The public spat between Zarah Sultana and the other five MPs in the Independent Alliance doesn’t augur well for the new Corbynista party that still lacks a name. Though the rift is simply over who should manage the membership system and bank accounts of the new party it clearly reflects underlying differences between those who want a conventional left-social democratic party and Corbyn’s kitchen cabinet that seems to hanker after the sort of rally party like the old Gaullist movement in France or the mass movements of Ghana’s Nkrumah and Nasser in Egypt that were models for much of the Global South in the 1950s and 60s.
With support for Labour and the Conservatives crumbling Reform UK is waiting to pick up the pieces. The Faragists have deliberately stoked up the flames over asylum-seekers. They will have no qualms in using the racist rabble that we saw march through the streets of London last week to pave their way to power.
There’s clearly deep divisions within the corridors of power. Though the Tories have traditionally always been the chosen political instrument of the ruling class Brexit has gone badly wrong for them. Boris Johnson and Madame Truss burned their bridges with Franco-German imperialism and their pivot to American imperialism failed. Sunak and Starmer fared no better – unable to negotiate some sort of associate relationship with the European Union or deal successfully with the truculent Trump administration in the United States.
Though it has served them well in the past Labour will never replace the Tories as the governing party of the bourgeoisie as long as it retains its organic links with the trade union movement. But neither will Reform. Though many Tory activists have gone over to Farage members of the old guard are few and far between in the Reform camp. And as far as the ruling class is concerned Farage remains an outsider – even in the City of London where he made his money in the first place.
They’ve got to put one of their own back at the helm of the Conservative & Unionist party while at the same time maintaining the credibility of Labour to contain the Corbynistas in parliament and on the street. That cuts Starmer out as well. It’s a difficult equation. But
for us we simply have to defend the principled line of socialist advance throughout the labour and anti-war movement. So let’s face the music... 

Not so set in stone?

 

by Ben Soton

Myths of Geography: Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong by Paul Richardson;  The Bridge Street Press Group (Hatchette) London 2024, 288pp, rrp £12.99

If you walk in most bookshops there is an extensive History section, another for Politics and Current affairs as well as another called Mind, Body and Spirit. However there is no separate Geography section, with books in the field located either on the history or science shelves.  The subject is, at best, a poor relation to history or even a subject in its own right.  Its meaning comes from the Ancient Greek word geo, meaning Earth. Hence the word ‘geography’ means ‘study of the Earth’.

Geography is therefore a wide-ranging subject, overlapping into history, politics and sociology as well as science.  Subsequently it is open to many widespread myths.  And in this book Paul Richardson examines some of these myths.
Richardson points that the division between Europe and Asia has almost nothing to do with Geography as is entirely political.  He adds that the nation state is a recent creation and often a result of elite manipulation. He also criticises the role played by European colonialism in Africa and elsewhere; explaining how many of Africa’s problems emanate with this legacy, which is in any case far from over.
The chapter on Russia focuses on what he calls revanchism, meaning a desire to re-gain lost territory.  He criticises Vladimir Putin’s work, On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians  in which the Russian President claims, with some accuracy, that Russia’s origins lie in Ukraine with the Kievan Russ and that the peoples of Russia and Ukraine share a common heritage.
But Richardson makes no mention of 30 years of Nato expansion, or the events of 2014 when the United States and the European Union supported a fascist backed Euro-Maidan coup. Whatever one’s view of the Russian intervention in Ukraine the Kremlin’s actions are nothing compared to the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.  Putin believes, rightly or wrongly, that Ukrainians and Russians are one and the same; he is not trying to exterminate them.  Richardson makes no mention of the Palestinian struggle; which considering it has been front page news for almost three years and is an issue rooted in geography is rather odd.    
As a liberal, Richardson is critical of some of the actions of imperialism, namely those committed in the last century. At the same time he rubbishes those trying to create an alternative, such as China’s Belt & Road project.  Instead of nationalism he advocates virtual, web-based communities as new forms of identity while making no reference to the most important factor that both divides us from our actual enemies and unites us with genuine allies – namely class.  
Nations are contradictory entities. Nationalism can in certain circumstances be a force for good; namely if it stands in opposition absolute monarchs or imperialism.  I dare say there is a parallel universe where this country is occupied by a foreign power –  were this the case covering lamp-posts and painting roundabouts with George Crosses might not be such a bad thing. However in this part of the space time continuum it is simply not the case.  Replacing nations with bogus notions of ‘identity’ are simply another distraction from the class struggle. 

Stormy Days for Starmer

Peter Mandelson’s been sacked and Angela Rayner’s jumped before she was pushed. The sacking of Lord Mandelson is the second time in less than a week that Keir Starmer has shoved a prominent member of his government out of the door.
No-one’s going to miss Mandelson. He should never have been appointed ambassador to the United States in the first place. Starmer clearly thought that the veteran Blairite’s supposed networking skills would help him build a position of trust with the Trump administration. But after media exposure of Mandelson’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious procurer who hanged himself in prison after being jailed for sex trafficking in New York, Mandelson’s position became untenable.
 It emerged that he had coached Epstein through "years of torture" over under-age sex charges. He told Epstein that “your friends stay with you and love you” and he urged him to "fight for early release". Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was "completely disgusted" by the messages,while Mike Tapp, the Home Officer minister, said they were "really disturbing and sickening".   
No-one’s going to miss Angela Rayner either. Though compared to Mandelson the former deputy premier got off lightly retreating to the backbenches over the furore over her failure to pay the correct amount of tax on one of her properties – something she insists was a genuine mistake.
This doesn’t bode well for Labour. Despite it’s immense parliamentary majority Starmer’s team already looks like a government on its last legs. The Faragists are snapping at their heels while more and more Labour activists are swinging over to the Corbynistas and the Greens.
 Starmer’s Blairite revival, a trashy imitation of a failed past, has brought Labour to its knees. 
The sooner they all go the better. No-one will miss them either…

From the river to the sea...

The Israeli air-raid intended to wipe out the entire Hamas negotiating team in Qatar has provoked angry responses throughout the world. Qatar’s prime minister calls for a “collective response” from the Arab and Muslim world. Russia called the Zionist raid “a gross violation of international law and the UN Charter” and People’s China linked it to what it called the "unbalanced stance of certain external powers on Middle East issues" – an unspoken but clear reference to US imperialism. 
A growing campaign in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel platform is spreading across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people march through London every month to demand justice for the Palestinian Arabs whilst the guilty men in Downing Street wine and dine the President of Israel in London.
The ongoing genocide and the continuous ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the murderous Zionist state, the use of terror and hunger as a weapon of war, the expansion of its settlements in the West Bank and the displacement of Palestinians from their historic land, are actions that are in clear conflict with every notion of humanity and respect for human life.
The World Federation of Trade Unions, based on the principles of solidarity and internationalism, has therefore decided to declare a global week of solidarity with the Palestinian people from 15th  to 22nd  September 2025.The working class will not remain silent in the face of the atrocities committed by the Zionist state. Let us all march together, across the length and breadth of the world, at this critical moment for the Palestinian people, under the slogan: No to Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing! Free Palestine!

The future beckons

While the imperialists live in the past with their “American Dream”  their “new world order” and “Making America Great Again” the Global South aims for the future – a better tomorrow that was charted out in Beijing by the leaders of the people’s democracies and the leaders of the Global South during the top-level discussions on the sidelines of the Victory Day celebrations in the Chinese capital last week.
Donald Trump and the other old men who lead the bourgeoisie in America and Europe have nothing to offer the new generation apart from tales of an imagined glorious past when imperialism in all its forms ruled most of the world and promises of never-ending poverty, austerity and war in the future.
These people pose as defenders of what they still call the “free world”. They say that socialism means dictatorship and that capitalism stands for freedom. But it is freedom only for the exploiters to continue to rob and plunder working people across the globe to ensure that a tiny handful of parasites can live the lives of Roman emperors at our expense.
They preach their “freedom” with their bombers and drones, their special forces and blockades against all those who dare to stand up for themselves. We see what the ruling class meant by “freedom” in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine. We see it today in the Gaza Strip,
They say we have free speech and democracy, but it’s democracy and freedom only for themselves. Their elections are used so that the smallest number of people can manipulate the maximum number of votes.
Now a new economic and political counter to US‑led imperialism is being built by China, Russia and the rest of the Global South. BRICS and the Belt & Road initiative provides an alternative to imperialism’s tariffs and one-sided “deals” and “partnerships” that solely serve the interests of the trans‑national corporations of the imperialist world.
In Beijing the Chinese leader Xi Jinping outlined five core principles that should be the driving force for global reform: sovereign equality, adherence to international law, multilateralism, a people-centred approach, and focus on practical action. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, backs China’s new initiative on global governance, calling it “timely and positive”. He reaffirmed Russia’s support for China’s proposals, which aim to build a more effective and fair international system amid Western dominance. 
The history of humanity is a history of exploitation and class struggle. For century after century working people – the slaves, the peasants, the artisans, dreamt of justice and equality. But in the modern era with the rise of the working class and the development of scientific socialism it is now possible not only to dream of a better world but also concretely to build it.
The imperialists think that their guns will ensure that they can ignore the will of the people for as long as they like. But they were proved wrong in the 20th century and they will be proved wrong today. The days when people listened to the rich men who told us that the greatest virtue of humanity was the possession of the largest amount of money are over. 

Lines on Maps

by Ben Soton

 A History of The World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the lines on Maps by John Elledge. Wildfire Headline Publishing Group. Pbk: 2025, 384pp, rrp £10.99. Hbk: 2024, 368pp, rrp £25.

Written by podcaster and journalist, John Elledge, this book goes a great deal of the way to explaining how borders have shaped history and how history has shaped borders.  His work, which comes under the field of historical geography, starts with the ancient world and ends in the present day. It contains a plethora of interesting facts making the study of borders a unique angle from which to view history.  
Ultimately borders arose with the first civilisations and the advent of class society; marking out the line where the power of one ruler ended and another began. For much of human history there were large parts of the planet not controlled by any specific state – or at least no one recognised by those who made the maps. It is often said that history is written by the victors. we could also add that so are maps.  
The book defines what a border is which is not the same as a boundary as well as citing numerous disputed frontiers. Some borders were created by external forces; namely foreign officials drawing lines on a map such as the Sykes-Picot agreement that divided up the Middle East between Britain and France during World War I or the carve up of Africa decades earlier. These borders, noticeable by their straight lines, make no consideration of local factors and often divide long established communities. Other borders, such as those in Europe are based on natural boundaries such as rivers. However even this has its pitfalls with rivers often changing course; moving in one direction or another.
The History of The World in 47 Borders starts in Ancient Egypt and ends in outer space –  apparently there is even disagreement as to where space begins.  The chapter on feudalism is interesting; the author points out that the term was not used until the early modern period when the system was on its way out. Meanwhile when anyone says that as far as open borders are concerned, they are to the right of Genghis Khan, they need reminding that the Mongol Empire was a borderless zone from the Pacific to the borders of Hungary.
Borders are in the news at the moment and are likely to be for some time. They may well still be a necessary evil and frankly getting rid of them is almost certainly utopian. But if you want a better understanding of the issue then reading this book may be a start.            

Opposing Racism and Fascism

The anti-fascist Stand Up to Racism campaign is calling on the labour movement to rally against the anti-immigrant hysteria over asylum-seekers that has been whipped up in the bourgeois media and on the streets by the Faragists and right-wing extremists in recent days. 

There’s no doubt that the High Court’s decision, that asylum-seekers must be removed from the Bell Hotel in Epping, was a  “terrible concession to racist protests organised by fascists” while Reform UK’s call for the mass deportation of asylum seekers, which Nigel Farage says is needed to prevent “major civil disorder” has already created a climate of fear in some parts of the country where people no longer feel safe on the street for fear of racist violence.
Silly season opinion polls put Reform ahead of Labour. Some suggest that the Faragists will win over 70 seats at the next general election. Others that Reform will get well into three figures to become the biggest single party in the House of Commons. That, of course, is still in the lap of the gods. Nevertheless Reform does have five MPs, over 70 councillors and 200,000 members and cannot be ignored.
The ruling class is not inherently racist but has always used racism to divide and weaken the working class. When any worker suffers abuse or discrimination because of their race, religion, gender, sexuality or for any other reason, the class as a whole is weakened and it is the responsibility of the whole class to combat racism and all other divisions of the class.
Reform campaigns against housing asylum seekers in UK hotels. But the problem
goes back to 2002 when the  “New Labour” government banned asylum-seekers from paid employment, which would have allowed them the resources to seek their own housing rather than depending on the state for shelter and care. Tony Blair’s government argued that allowing asylum seekers to work would make the UK a more attractive place to claim asylum and that asylum issues needed to be kept separate from economic migration.  
The TUC and the anti-racist campaigns want this reversed. We agree and also call for the repeal of the Immigration & Asylum Acts of the 1990s, passed by both Tory and Labour governments, which make it very difficult for many genuine asylum seekers to establish their claims.
Asylum seekers must be treated humanely and their claims dealt with swiftly. While this process takes place they must be given decent accommodation and welfare benefits to survive. No asylum seekers should be locked up unless there is good reason, with evidence, to believe they are criminals. And no child asylum seeker should ever be locked up.
The New Communist Party recognises the need for any sovereign state to set an immigration policy in accordance with its resources. But we firmly oppose any immigration policy that discriminates, either directly or indirectly, on the basis of race, creed, colour or gender.