The BNP threat

The election of two BNP Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in June was a success for the party leadership’s strategy of distancing the far-right organisation from its neo-fascist origins. But the drive for electability impacts not only on broad public perceptions of the BNP but on the character of the party itself. Understanding what the BNP is and where it is going is crucial, argues HANNAH SELL, to working out what needs to be done to defeat it.

Marxism and the second world war

Seventy years ago, the major powers plunged humanity into the horror of world war. Modern capitalist technique guaranteed death and destruction on a previously unimaginable scale. Despite the contending claims this was, at root, a struggle for markets, and economic and political dominance. PETER TAAFFE looks at the background to the war and the responsibility of socialists in wartime.

Vestas occupation: fighting for the future

The occupation of the Vestas wind turbine factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, hit the front pages and television news in Britain and worldwide. On Monday 20 July, 25 workers began an occupation that lasted 18 days. In this short time, a non-unionised workforce brought government ministers and an intransigent company to the negotiating table to hammer out the factory’s future. NICK CHAFFEY reports on this significant struggle.