Why the EU Flag is Oh So Blue

Forget the English Civil War, the Chartist Movement, the Paris Commune, the French Revolution, the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, the defeat of Nazi Germany by Soviet forces; Europe is the home of right wing, big business capitalism.

As the European debt crisis continues and once-sovereign governments now bend over backwards to appease the increasingly despotic Market, the working people of Europe are again held to ransom and forced to pay for a disastrous project that none of us actually wanted.

Sure, our economies have grown, some of us have had jobs, there has been increased tax revenue and government spending - I'm not about to argue that in the short term the European Capitalist Project hasn't been good for a few. In the short term. For a few.

Annual Karl Marx Oration

Jean Turner is honorary secretary of the Society for Co-operation in Russian and Soviet Studies. This is an edited version of her speech at the Annual Karl Marx Oration at Highgate cemetery.