A demonstration in Leeds in November organised by the English Defence League (EDL) revealed quite clearly that the police were prepared to let the EDL get through their lines, while at the same time they poured huge resources into keeping the anti-fascist protestors bottled in, proving once again that it would be naīve to believe we can rely on the police to keep us safe against the fascist hooligans. The experience in Leeds, however, does highlight the need to review what kind of tactics should be adopted to fight these fascist thugs.

In the recent period racist attacks have been on the increase across Europe, organised by small but violent groups of fascist thugs. One such formation is the so-called "Scottish Defence League", copying the name from the "English Defence League". These organisations cannot be allowed to carry out their intimidating activities unchallenged. The challenge however cannot be based on appealing to the police to prevent the far right from gathering. We can only rely on the mobilisation of working class people. Here we provide an example of such kind of working class response in Glasgow in November.

This article originally appeared in "The Red Plough" an independent Email journal of Republican Marxist opinion. It takes a clear position against the arguments of the capitalist press around the strikes on the 24th of November. In particular it deals with the question of "the national interest". The bosses are always keen to try and mask the class nature of society and here Gerry Ruddy points out the contradictions in their arguments and offers a class alternative.

The last year has marked a huge turning point in the Irish economy and most importantly a huge shift in the relations between the classes in Ireland. While the Celtic Tiger had been on life support for a while, 2009 saw a huge crisis that has had massive economic consequences and political change that will play out for a whole period. This year represented a shift from one historical period to another; a whole new perspective has opened up for Irish society, not just in the 26 counties, but increasingly across the whole island as the impact of the capitalist crisis begins to be felt to its full extent in the north.

As the year draws to an end, Terry McPartlan looks back at a turbulent 2009. The world capitalist crisis began to dramatically affect hundreds of millions of workers throughout the entire world, who in turn started to fight back with strikes and factory occupations.

At a public meeting organized by various trade union, political organizations, and solidarity campaigns (including Hands Off Venezuela), more than 3,000 people in Copenhagen heard President Hugo Chávez correctly point out that a socialist revolution is the only solution to the problems of humanity.

For many working class families, this Christmas looks like being a grim one as the effects of the recession continue to bite. However, for bosses, bankers and City traders it looks like quite a different story.

Supporters of Socialist Appeal in Glasgow joined Greek students in a picket of the Greek Consulate to mark the one year anniversary of the police murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Athens. The murder set off a revolt of working class youth throughout Greece that was met with huge police repression. The picket was held also to show solidarity with the massive demonstrations that took place throughout Greek cities last Sunday to mark the anniversary.

At a recent meeting of a local Labour Party Branch in Worcester, Britain, a slick high tech presentation was given by a group called Transition Worcester, who said they had the answer to the environmental crisis. It is to turn the clock back 200 years to a mythical age where all trade was local and people enjoyed the benefit of locally grown meat, fruit & veg. Within this presentation were ideas such as we should no longer trade with developing countries and we should therefore export our unemployment to the third world.

The decision of the Garda Representative Association to ballot for strike action shows two things. In the first place it shows the scope of the opposition to the pay cuts outlined by Brian Lenihan in the budget released yesterday. On the other hand it shows the deep discontent that exists in Irish society.

So, the Gards are voting for strikes and the Turkeys are voting for Christmas. That's right, the “Soldiers of Destiny” will be voting for the Budget today, Wednesday. They'll be voting to cut Child Benefit, cutting Social Welfare, cutting services to old people, the sick and the children. The same children that they claim to be defending form the terrors of the clerical abuse. Its not so long ago that people were flooding back here to take advantage of the Celtic Tiger. But in the Ireland of today the only people taking advantage of anyone else are the bankers and the big bosses.

After the recent decision of the INLA to renounce the armed struggle and its call on its members to take the political road, an analysis of this important turn from a Marxist point of view by Gerry Ruddy was published in The Red Plough. We believe it puts the Marxist case very clearly and make it available here for our readers.

The talks between the government and ICTU have collapsed following pressure from the FF back benches. Apparently they had been pressured from “the private sector” to oppose plans for unpaid leave proposed by the union leaderships. Make no bones about it. What this really means is that the Irish bourgeoisie and the multinationals are putting on the pressure and demanding that the public sector takes huge cuts. It raises the temperature in what is already a charged situation.

The Ryan and Murphy reports have exposed the extent of the abuse carried out against children by Catholic priests in the Dublin Diocese between 1975 and 2004. It is also clear that such abuses have occurred in practically all parishes of the Roman Catholic Church in the whole island.

The TUC has worked out that the richest folk in the land get subsidised massively in their old age by the rest of us. No change there, then. So it’s nice to see the rich are all right (as usual). What about the rest of us? Nearly two thirds of over 50s are worrying that pension and savings are just not enough to see them through retirement.