Labour’s general election defeat was worse than anyone expected. ILP chair DAVID CONNOLLY considers some of the reasons and restates four principles for the Party’s conduct as it seeks renewal. ...
The Labour Manifesto: ‘Formidable and Ambitious’
At this general election, the stakes could not be higher, argues ILP chair DAVID CONNOLLY. The Labour Party manifesto launched last week represents a strategic shift and opens up a vision of a different kind of society. A Labour victory is vital....
Ways Forward Through Co-operative Solidarity
DAVID CONNOLLY reports from last week’s Co-operative Solidarity conference in Manchester. “Co-ops are at the heart of Labour’s economic programme.” That was the key message from Shadow Business Minister Rebecca Long-Bailey at the Co-operative Solidarity conference. Drawing attention to the ‘right to own’ commitment in Labour’s election manifesto last year, she said that a Labour...
Labour and the Corbyn Effect
DAVID CONNOLLY reviews a recent collection of essays that examine Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and seek to map out a possible future for the Party. I recently overheard a conversation in a café in Chester-le-Street that illustrated an on-going problem – namely that despite the many and varied travails of the May government, Labour...
With Orwell, Cottman and Quinto in Catalonia
ILP Chair DAVID CONNOLLY reports on his visit to Catalonia last year to mark the 80th anniversary of George Orwell’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War. George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia is one of the great books of political literature of the 20th century. It records his time in Spain as a volunteer with the...
The ILP, POUM and the May Days of the Spanish Civil War
With a plaque to their memory due to be re-dedicated later this month, DAVID CONNOLLY tells the story of the ILP volunteers in the Spanish Civil War and their connection to POUM....
EU: Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils
The EU referendum campaign has hardly been inspiring. For the left it poses some awkward questions with few simple answers. DAVID CONNOLLY casts his eye over some of the better contributions and opts to vote Remain. Just. Realistically, this debate was never going to be particularly sophisticated but the torrent of misleading statistics and highly...
ILP@120: The Life and Times of Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee had a very long and productive political life. DAVID CONNOLLY provides a brief sketch of the prime minister who first learned his politics in the ILP in the early years of the 20th century. Clement Richard Attlee was born on 3 January 1883, the seventh of eight children in a deeply religious, Anglican,...
Growing concern over Refounding Labour
Concern is growing over the Labour leadership’s handling of its ‘Refounding Labour’ proposals, as DAVID CONNOLLY explains. It seems that a final Refounding Labour document will go to the party’s Organisation Committee of the NEC on 15 September and then to the NEC itself five days later. If it is accepted the proposals it...
Labour Must Support the TUC’s Demonstration
DAVID CONNOLLY calls for Ed Miliband to join the protest masses at the TUC’s march next month. Great Ayton is a small, pleasant middle class village just south of Middlesbrough where four weeks ago 600 people crammed into the village hall to protest against the closure of the local library. Another 100 or so couldn’t...
Labour ‘Supporters’ To Get The Vote?
A report in ‘The Independent’ (28 December 2010) says that the Labour Party has written to the Committee on Standards in Public Life arguing for a cap of £500 on donations to political parties. According to the paper, ‘Mr Miliband is ready to gamble on Labour attracting thousands of small donations from individual supporters...