Ireland – unionists must not be allowed to block Haass proposals

6th February 2014 Socialist Action 0

By Frances Davis

The current failure to move forward on proposals which emerged from the ‘Haass’ talks in relation to the north of Ireland, as Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy recently pointed out, `go to the heart of the issues and difficulties involved in making political change and progress’.

The proposals which emerged from all-party talks chaired by US diplomats Richard Haass and Megan O’Sullivan, put forward reasonable and modest ways of dealing with the problematic issues of the past, contentious parades, the flying of flags and use of emblems. Resolving these issues is crucial to maintaining and progressing the Good Friday Agreement’s core principle of equality.

Thailand – elections proceed but crisis continues

5th February 2014 Socialist Action 0

By Jane West

The conduct of the opposition in the Thai election held Sunday 2nd February was a success for the forces of Yinglunk Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party despite the attempts by the right-wing minority opposition movement, led by Suthep Thaugsuban, to disrupt the elections and delegitimise the results.

National week of action – Stop the sell off of student loans

31st January 2014 Socialist Action 0

By Jennifer Nash

Next week students across the country will be taking part in a week of action to oppose the government’s latest attack on students and education: the planned privatisation of the student loan book. Activities are already planned at 50 university and college campuses nationwide.

The sell-off of student loans is just the latest major assault on education under the current government; following the tripling of tuition fees, the scrapping of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) plus the austerity agenda which is hitting the living standards of students hard.

The ‘Great Stagnation’ and spreading world social instability

19th January 2014 Socialist Action 0

By Peter Wilson

Five years into the current economic crisis it is possible to see beyond the immediate impact of the global financial crisis and recession to see clearly some of the structural shifts that have taken place. A key change that has taken place is a sharp fall in capital creation, and therefore investment, in the imperialist countries. Given that investment is responsible for the bulk of economic growth, there is no immediate possibility of rapid growth in these economies being recreated. The cumulative effect of the resulting economic stagnation in the imperialist centres lies behind the spreading of social and political instability to widening areas of the world.