"Red Oskar"

Ignore the Indy's typically obnoxious sneering about the politics. The revival of the Left continues:

The former German finance minister, once described by Britain's Sun newspaper as "The most dangerous man in Europe", appeared in pouring rain last week in front of a 40-ton, Soviet-made bronze head of Karl Marx that survives as a "souvenir of communist culture" in the east German city of Chemnitz...

His chin jutting towards the lead-grey heavens, "Red Oskar", the renegade former Social Democrat turned left-wing bogeyman, did his best to confirm the long-held convictions of those present with a withering assault on the near-criminal shortcomings of Mr Schröder's government.

Nothing was spared in his invective. Germany's "neo-liberal" political elite had allowed the nation's public morals to become "rotten and depraved". It had hoodwinked workers into believing that industry had to shed thousands of jobs if it were to remain profitable.

George Galloway, Laurent Fabius, and (perhaps) Oskar Lafontaine. Polls suggest a united left party led by him could win up to 18% of the vote. Fingers crossed; anything close to that would be fantastic.