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March against the G8
This year's G8 summit will be held in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (NI) on 17-18 June. The heads of government of eight of the world's largest capitalist economies will discuss how they can further the interests of those they represent - the super-rich, big business and the bankers.
The G8 leaders are determined to make workers, young people and the middle class pay for a crisis which we did not create, in order to fund the bailout of the bankers and speculators.
The G8's austerity agenda created mass unemployment across the globe, especially among young people. And billions of people on our planet subsist on less than $2 a day.
Collectively, the G8 governments are responsible for inaction on climate change which threatens our environment and humanity's future.
For them, the profits of the energy corporations come first. In 2001, the G8 issued a communique promoting hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking', a dangerous method of extracting gas which can contaminate water supplies.
Multinationals and many local politicians are salivating at the thought of bringing this process to Fermanagh, against the wishes of local communities.
The G8 - and the capitalist system it represents - is intimately bound up with war and the suffering it brings to people across the globe.
Member governments have directly engaged in imperialist campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Mali, to name but a few.
Some back the Israeli state's oppression of the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, they fund and arm dictatorial regimes around the world.
'Benefits' of the G8?
There has been a concerted propaganda campaign in the media to convince us that the G8 visit is a good thing; it will boost the NI economy, attract inward investment and tourism and put NI on the 'world stage'. How many times have we heard the same hot air before? Working class communities are still waiting for the 'peace dividend' promised 15 years ago!
The reality is that the austerity agenda the G8 represents is gutting the economy, locally and globally.
The NI Assembly Executive is taking £4.3 billion out of our economy in cuts. Investment has collapsed because companies aren't convinced they can make large enough profits. Tourism suffers because people simply have less money to spend.
The Lough Erne resort, where the summit will be held, illustrates this. It went into administration and was closed down.
It's being temporarily re-opened with staff re-employed on lower wages! Any money the G8 summit brings in will be outweighed by the massive security bill.
Fermanagh will be turned into a militarised zone in the run up to the G8 summit, causing huge disruption to the lives of ordinary people.
Thousands of police officers are being brought in, as well as the army. Water cannon will be on stand-by and the Policing Board has authorised the purchase of drone spy-planes.
While the politicians are closing schools and slashing the health service, no expense is being spared to protect the likes of Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
There has been a conscious attempt by the police, politicians and the media to smear those who oppose the G8 as violent thugs and to connect us to dissident republicans.
This is an inaccurate character assassination. We are seeking to peacefully protest. Those involved in violence will be inside the G8 summit!
Join the socialist opposition!
We stand for a socialist world, where the massive wealth which exists would be taken into public ownership and used democratically to provide a decent life for all.
We are seeking to build a political force which unites workers and young people from across the sectarian divide to fight for our common interests.
See socialistpartyni.net for more information
March against the G8
- Belfast: 15 June, Assemble 12pm at Custom House Square
- Enniskillen: 17 June, Assemble 6.30pm at Enniskillen Library
@:[email protected]
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
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