“There is much in the British socialist tradition that has been forgotten or ignored, and which runs counter to state centralism, in particular a stress on grass-roots solutions, co-operation and an emphasis on local culture. Applied imaginatively, these traditions open up the possibility of creating a popular democratic culture which reflects different but complementary...
Beyond Blue Labour
Marc Stears, Professor of Political Theory at Oxford University, spoke at Leeds University earlier this month on democracy and the politics of protest. BARRY WINTER reports....
Stop Kony, stop thinking?
In the past week, the ‘Stop Kony’ campaign, aimed at the arrest of African ‘warlord’ Joseph Kony, leader of the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army, has become an unlikely internet phenomenon. There is an undoubted justice to the campaign to the extent that, as the LRA leader, Kony is responsible for crimes against humanity stretching...
Recognising the Anfal genocide
A campaign is launched this week to urge the UK government to recognise the genocide against the people of Iraqi Kurdistan. The aim is to collect 100,000 signatures on an e-petition to trigger a parliamentary debate. GARY KENT reports....
Hannah Mitchell Foundation launched
More than 120 people attended the launch of the Hannah Mitchell Foundation at Bradford City Hall on Friday 9 March. It was “a cracking start” according to the organisation's president Linda Riordan MP. “The meeting showed a sense of purpose and feeling on the issues facing the north,” she said. “It shows that there is...
The ILP: Past & Present (1993)
The ILP, which returned to the Labour Party in 1975 as Independent Labour Publications, was in many respects a shadow of its former self. But what it lacked in size and organisations it intended to make up for with political clarity, intellectual honesty and a determination to learn from the left’s past failures, including...
The ILP: Past & Present (1993)
In trying to change society the ILP has, throughout its history, been challenging the ‘common sense’ ideas of the time....
‘A triumph for activism’
The Working Class Movement Library, which houses some of the ILP archives, has won the national Museums at Night contest to stage an international artist event in May. The Salford-based library beat Quay Arts on the Isle of Wight and the Guernsey Museum in a public vote described as 'a triumph of activism' by its...
Writing the Con: Housing and the Big Society
A big society can't be a good society unless it's underpinned by decent housing, according to Labour MP Karen Buck. MATTHEW BROWN reports on the launch of two new Chartist pamphlets....