BARRY WINTER reviews Tony Judt’s Ill Fares the Land, and finds the late academic’s fascinating account “both right and wrong” in its lament for social democracy. Born in London in 1948, Tony Judt taught at several British and American Universities. At New York University in 1995, he established an institute for the study of European...
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...
Trying to make sense of Hackney’s riots
Local resident MATTHEW BROWN sifts through the context and consequences of the riots which erupted on Hackney's streets and estates on 8 August....
Cameron’s Con continues
With the Office for Civil Society – the supposed engine room of the prime minister’s ‘Big Society’ – hit by a hefty 61 per cent cut in funding, the government’s con is well and truly exposed, Unite the union says today. The cut to the Office for Civil Society is just one of the...
Cake, choirs and comrades at Clarion House
The origins of the Clarion House at Newchurch, near Burnley, go way back to 1899 when a handful of ILP members rented their first Clarion House in Thorneyholme between Barley and Happy Valley. On 24 July, a brilliantly sunny Sunday afternoon 112 years later, the Clarion House at Jinney Lane and its surrounding countryside...
Remembering Spain’s volunteers
On Saturday 16 July, the 75th anniversary of the first involvement of anti-fascist volunteers from north west England in the Spanish Civil War was commemorated at Manchester Town Hall. CHRIS HALL was there. Over 100 people, including many young Spaniards, were present to hear about the contribution of the north west in the fight...
Building the Good Society
Ideas, campaigns and coalitions are needed to build the good society. BARRY WINTER reports on this year’s Compass conference. The recent Compass conference exceeded my expectations. Not least because, following the general election, last year’s event felt rather flat and earlier versions of this year’s programme seemed a little uninspiring. Was the formerly successful...
How Red Was Our Valley
PAUL SALVESON reports on the Colne Valley Labour Party’s 120th anniversary. Our former MP Kali Mountford described it as a ‘triumph’ and we’ll not disagree, self-effacing Northerners though we are. Last Thursday’s evening of walks, talks and drama to celebrate Colne Valley Labour Party’s 120th anniversary went pretty well. We had a capacity audience...
Challenge, change and hope
PAUL SALVESON brings his celebration of the 120-year-old Colne Valley Labour Party up to date with a look at its present predicaments and future prospects In the aftermath of the May 2010 election defeat there has been a re-evaluation of where the Labour Party was going, at local and national level. Despite being defeated,...
Fighting Cuts To Legal Aid
As the controversial Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill moved into committee stage this week, HARRY BARNES called for campaigners to defend current legal provisions. “Because the proposed legislation covers a wide area, the issue of the massive cuts in legal aid is in danger of failing to get a full and fair...
A New School for Democratic Socialism
KEN CURRAN introduces a new political education initiative set to launch in Sheffield this autumn Socialism as an idea and as a movement has a long history. But as a consequence of Thatcher’s election in 1979, the triumph of neo-liberalism and the collapse of Communism after 1989, socialism became unpopular. Key figures in Labour...
Socialism in the Valley
To mark its 120th anniversary this July, local member PAUL SALVESON celebrates the roots, birth and history of the Colne Valley Labour Party and examines its impact on the distinctive culture of the area The Colne Valley CLP was formed on 21 July 1891 and put down deep roots in the Pennine communities of...