The British High Court recently rejected a legal action challenging the UK's ongoing export of arms to Saudi Arabia. A very bloody, very profitable business is to continue. The result will deepen the crisis unleashed by the US and UK-backed Saudi war on Yemen.
Politics in Britain have changed. The neoliberal legacy of Tony Blair may have finally expired. The idea that anything resembling the left must remain on the periphery has died with it. The future now shows more promise than we have seen for years in Britain.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to call an early election for June 8th has got Britain guessing. Is it plot to legitimize a failing government in the face of Brexit? The UK is economically frail, homelessness is rampant, the welfare state is a disaster, and foreign affairs are rocky. The upcoming vote brings this crisis into sharp focus.
As sea levels rise, the already low-lying landmass of Bangladesh is doubly threatened. Much of the country is less than five or so meters above sea level, constituting one of the most vulnerable areas on the planet when it comes to potentially devastating environmental change.
A coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia is conducting an extensive and ongoing aerial bombardment of its smaller and far weaker neighbor, Yemen. Both the US and British governments have drawn fire for their role in supplying Saudi Arabia with weapons systems, munitions and tactical expertise. In the process, the US and Britain have become associated with the mass civilian hardship that has become a hallmark of the Yemen conflict.
The ongoing political battle for leadership of the UK's Labour party is highlighting some important tensions, not just within the left, but the political climate across the nation. With Members of Parliament in revolt over fresh welfare cuts and the unashamed leftist Jeremy Corbyn now set to win the leadership of the Labour party, we are without a doubt headed for dramatic times in British politics.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019