Last week saw hundreds of thousands attend the biggest right-wing demonstration in decades. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer’s Labour government is facing a meltdown after just a year in office. How should the left respond, and what are the reasons for the rise of the right and the political crisis in the first place? 

The monster ‘Unite the Kingdom’ demonstration on Saturday 13 September marks a turning point. Some are calling it the biggest far-right demonstration in British history. This event deserves a thorough – but sober – analysis.

Reporters Without Borders has warned that, “At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed”. Gaza has become the deadliest place for journalists in the world. Over 270 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since 7 October 2023.

Amidst everything on the news last week, from revolutionary events in Indonesia and Nepal, to the shooting of Charlie Kirk, a major political crisis is unravelling in France which has given birth to the Bloquons tout (Block Everything) movement.

Since Sébastien Lecornu's appointment on 9 September, the mainstream media have been singing the same old tune as they did in the early days of Barnier and Bayrou’s premierships: the new Prime Minister is a man of ‘dialogue’ and ‘compromise’, an affable ‘negotiator’ appreciated by the parliamentary opposition – in short, the political equivalent of the ideal son-in-law.

With AI mania driving unprecedented investment in the tech sector, Wall Street punters are racing to get a piece of the gold rush. Speculation on the NASDAQ is rampant, tech stock is being inflated well beyond actual profitability, and a horde of crypto-addicted zombie companies has been unleashed upon the markets. A colossal correction is only a matter of time.

A broad movement against the massacre in Gaza and in defence of the Palestinian people is taking shape in Italy. It is a shake-up of the stagnant Italian political scene that we greet with enthusiasm, and one that the Partito Comunista Rivoluzionario will continue to invest its energies in. This movement will spread because it expresses a deep-seated sentiment in society, a visceral exasperation at the horrors we are witnessing live from Palestine. Up to this point, this sentiment has lacked a channel for expression. Now, it has finally exploded.

For some time, military parades were obscure remnants of the past. American imperialism was too powerful. Any other country showcasing its military might for the world to see would merely underline the large discrepancy between the US and everyone else. Not any more.

If it is enough to arm oneself with a pistol in order to achieve one’s goal, why the efforts of the class struggle? If a thimbleful of gunpowder and a little chunk of lead is enough to shoot the enemy through the neck, what need is there for a class organization?

Several hundred thousand people took part in the mobilisation on 10 September. From dawn to dusk, the movement unfolded in various forms: blockades, rallies, demonstrations, pickets and general assemblies. The atmosphere was radical and combative. Young people dominated the marches, especially in the big cities.

Lenin once said that there are weeks where decades happen. This is one of those weeks. The French government collapsed. Revolutions broke out in Indonesia andNepal. Israel bombed peace negotiations in Qatar. And just yesterday, right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.

Protesters have set fire to the federal parliament, Supreme Court, political party officers and homes of senior politicians. The Prime Minister has resigned, along with a whole host of cabinet ministers. The army is evacuating politicians from their homes. After putting up with years of crushing poverty, the Nepalese youth have had enough. They have entered the stage of history.

President Donald Trump has taken a sledgehammer to decades of US foreign policy in South Asia by imposing 50 percent tariffs on a swathe of Indian goods. This is a slap in the face for Trump’s former close ally Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is now seeking more reliable friends in Beijing. The entire diplomatic picture in the region has been turned upside down, while Indian workers and poor brace for the economic fallout.

François Bayrou's fall was celebrated last night with farewell parties organised in front of a number of town halls. Generally, it was welcomed with satisfaction by millions of young people and workers.

As revolutionary events rock Indonesia, we wish to bring to the attention of our readers a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking, the 2012 film The Act of Killing. This documentary is truly a unique and harrowing watch. It is also invaluable as an insight into the nature of the regime that the youth of Indonesia are rising against today.