When Tony Blair’s New Labour government was elected on 1 May 1997, exactly 25 years ago last Sunday, it brought to an end 18 years of Conservative rule.
For many associated with the party, and many more who weren’t, Labour’s landslide victory marked a moment of hope and optimism after nearly two decades of Thatcherism and many years of ideological and electoral defeat. For many on the left, however, there was also anxiety…
CHRISTOPHER OLEWICZ examines an inside account of Preston Council’s much-hailed ‘model’ for local development, and casts his mind back to the 1980s when his own local authority tried to resist the march of Thatcherism with bottom-up regeneration and municipal enterprise.
It’s no secret that support for proportional representation has been growing within the Labour Party, not least on the Labour left. JACQUELINE TAYLOR puts the socialist case for a proportional voting system for UK general elections and addresses some of the common arguments against it.
Charles Ammon had a habit of getting sacked for speaking his mind. But he rose from lowly telegraph boy to Labour Chief Whip and the House of Lords. GRAHAM TAYLOR traces the life of a founding ILPer and lifelong socialist who provided support and friendship to the Salters in Southwark.
The Labour leader is right on Ukraine, but wrong in his response to the anti-war left, says WILL BROWN. By threatening the left rather than winning a political argument, Starmer is putting petty vendettas ahead of party unity in the face of this perilous European conflict.
Unite Community has been at the heart of campaigns against Tory cuts to Universal Credit. HEATHER BLAKEY and GERRY LAVERY report on the ongoing battle for a new ‘common sense’.
CHRISTOPHER HALL welcomes a new book on the role of POUM volunteers in the Spanish Civil War that includes a detailed account of the ILP contingent.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is against international law and a flagrant breach of the UN Charter. In deliberately targeting the civilian population the Russian leadership is committing crimes against humanity.
CHRISTOPHER OLEWICZ looks back 90 years at Fenner Brockway’s ground-breaking report on destitution in 1930s Britain. With the current cost of living crisis, he asks, is ‘literal starvation’ once again stalking the nation’s poorest communities?
Comment
Solidarity with the People of Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is against international law and a flagrant breach of the UN Charter. In deliberately targeting the civilian population the Russian leadership is committing crimes against humanity.