The pandemic has had the effect of intensifying the crisis of overproduction that began in 2008, further exacerbating the contradictions of the capitalist system. As a result, we are witnessing a sharp change in the policies being carried out by the ruling classes of the main imperialist countries. Austerity, the economic policy of the last few years, has been temporarily put to one side. It would have been economically and politically unsustainable to carry on with austerity policies under the current conditions.

In the course of scarcely a month, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has begun imploding in spectacular fashion. Arlene Foster – the DUP leader and First Minister at Stormont who survived the RHI scandal, the collapse of Stormont in 2017, and the introduction of Northern Ireland Protocol earlier this year – has finally and unceremoniously been booted out. The straw that broke the camel’s back? Her opposition to gay conversion therapy.