In the wake of his recent humanitarian visit to Cuba, RICHARD BURGON points to the now urgent need to defend the island’s political sovereignty and its right to self-determination
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Despite its best efforts, you can still see socialist Budapest
Infamous for the misunderstood events of 1956, visit the Hungarian capital today and you will find many proud relics of an era of full employment, free housing, education and leisure, writes JOHN PATEMAN
The Pantheon of the Workers Movement by Zoltan Olcsai-Kiss (1959), can still be found in situ today
Thousands of jobs are at risk across higher education, yet government funding appears only when universities can be linked to military objectives, says JO GRADY, in the run-up to the Stop the War International Conference this Saturday
The Wye, Usk, Arrow and Lugg were once treasured for their clean waters – today, pollution and corporate excess are fuelling demands for a return to public ownership, says MARK SEDDON
The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Rising support for Farage’s party reflects Labour’s failure to defend working-class living standards or offer a credible alternative to neoliberal decline, says JOSEPH MILLS
Trade unionists are mobilising to support Cuban workers and public services, amid escalating US pressure on the socialist island. RONAN OGILVY explains
THE socialist period of development in Hungary lasted from April 1945, when the Red Army liberated the country from Nazi occupation, to October 1989 when the People’s Republic was renamed the Republic of Hungary.
Today there are few visible signs of this over 40 years in Hungarian history, which have been systematically rewritten or eliminated. The casual observer would not know that it ever existed. But there are still some remnants that are well worth seeing.
The most obvious place to start is war memorials as these are the least likely to be tampered with or removed. The Soviet Army Memorial at the top end of Szabadsag Place commemorates the liberation of Budapest from the Nazis, with bas reliefs of Red Army troops and tanks advancing on Ferenciek Square and parliament.
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STEPHEN BELL reports from a delegation that traced the steps of China’s socialist revolution from its first modest meetings to the Red Army’s epic 9,000km battle to create the modern nation that today defies every capitalist assumption
As the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia rebuilds support through anti-cuts campaigns, the government seeks to silence it before October’s parliamentary elections through liberal totalitarianism, reports JOHN CALLOW
