AS THE Morning Star reminded us in its excellent edition for International Women’s Day (March 8), women all over the world want to live without fear of sex-based violence, poverty, internal displacement, forced migration, economic hardship, misogyny and harassment.

One year on from Sarah Everard’s murder and — more recently — that of Sabina Nessa, there is little sign of any real action by government to tackle the violence against women that is endemic in society. 

There has been a small victory in the High Court with its ruling that the Metropolitan Police acted illegally in its response to the vigil for Sarah Everard but sexism, misogyny and racism are rooted in the Met and in other forces and will continue to be so unless there is a complete cultural shift.

Liz Truss is the most inappropriate person to bear the responsibility for government policy on women and equalities. 

As foreign secretary, she had wanted Britons to go and fight in Ukraine against Russian forces and then had to back down. 

She supports lifting the ban on fracking to counteract the loss of Russian oil imports. She also wants Nato members to increase their military spending and believes that worsening the cost-of-living crisis is a price worth paying for the war in Ukraine.

That Ukraine war will have a huge and lasting impact on women and children, as all wars do.

The warning signs for this conflict have been growing over a number of years. The Maidan coup of 2014 against Ukraine’s elected president led to the installation of a pro-Western government in Kiev. 

It was backed by fascist elements which proceeded to carry out a war on breakaway areas of the Donbass region, causing thousands of casualties.

Nato pushed for Ukraine to join the alliance and conducted exercises with its forces and armaments on the Ukrainian border with Russia — an eastwards expansion designed to encircle Russia and increase Western imperialist hegemony over Europe and its resources.

Putin’s Russia has now responded with invasion and war which is having a devastating impact on Ukraine. The prospects of a horrifying escalation cannot be ruled out.

Who wins?

Not the Ukrainian people, women and children especially, caught up in conflict zones, losing homes, jobs, lives. Over two million refugees have left the country already. 

Despite professing concern, Britain has only allowed a low number of refugees to enter through the visa scheme.

Not the Russian working class, as economic sanctions cause rising prices and inflation and loss of jobs and income as Western firms pull out. 

The Russian government has clamped down hard on any dissent against the war.

Not the working class of Europe, including Britain — food prices are already rising sharply together with a rise in global energy costs. 

Rocketing gas and electricity prices are hitting the poor disproportionately and it has never been more necessary to step up the fight for renationalisation of the energy and water utilities.

But the fightback, too, is growing.

Coventry HGV drivers are fighting for a pay increase from the Labour council; NASUWT and NEU members in private-sector schools are striking against “fire-and-rehire” employers who want to remove pension rights; UCU lecturers are in action for higher pay in colleges and universities; and Tube workers and cleaners in the RMT and other unions are striking for jobs, pensions and decent working conditions.

The United States sees the Ukraine war as a chance to weaken economic rivals: Russia, tied up militarily, suffering a tightening economic blockade, unable to service its foreign debt; and Germany, unable to access Russian gas and becoming dependent on imports from the US instead.

Western capitalist firms will seek to replace their lost profits in Russia by cutting wages and increasing prices elsewhere.

No wonder the president of the World Bank warns of an “economic catastrophe” which would cut global economic growth. 

David Malpass claims to be concerned about the loss of livelihoods and lives, but he might be more alarmed by the halt to Ukraine’s privatisation programme, financed by the World Bank to the tune of $7.9 billion since 2014.

The Ukraine war is a win for Western imperialism’s military-industrial and energy complex as more armaments are piled into the conflict and Germany and Greece join Britain in boosting their military expenditure.

There will be lasting environmental and climate change damage through the release of greenhouse gases from bombing and shelling. 

The US will step up its exports of fracked oil and LNG gas, as the pressure mounts to lift the ban on fracking in Britain.

The British government shows no sign of wanting peace negotiations, in fact, the opposite is true; it sends yet more armaments to Ukraine and troops to Poland.  

Mass media owners are rigorously controlling the presentation of the conflict and shutting down news of Britain’s gathering cost-of-living crisis. 

There will be more attacks on communists and peace campaigners who stand for a negotiated settlement and an end to Nato expansion.

The Starmer-led Labour Party worships at the shrine of Nato and — in the name of freedom and democracy — seeks to silence dissent from its own MPs. 

Even so, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has called for a fresh debate on worldwide nuclear disarmament.

Stop the War and CND have a correct analysis and are getting out on the streets weekly to protest.

The Communist Party of Britain’s call for a ceasefire and negotiated peace with guaranteed security for all is the right call. 

Britain should leave Nato and all the US bases in Britain must be removed. 

Together, we must support the global campaign for the dissolution of Nato proposed by former Bolivian president Evo Morales.