Anthony Crosland’s ‘The Future of Socialism’ was published 70 years ago and its influence on the Labour Party has lasted for decades. So does it have anything to tell us today? ARUN LEWIS has his doubts. ‘After years of deindustrialisation, deregulation, financial collapse, austerity and Brexit, Crosland’s prediction of ever-growing abundance and consensual politics seems...
We’re constantly told about a ‘bloated’ disability benefits bill, yet disabled people struggle with unsuitable services and unaffordable costs. We need to look at the issue a different way, says SANDRA WILSON....
‘Mainstream has galvanised individuals and groups across the party who are looking, not only for a change of political direction, but a shift in the party’s political culture. Both are much needed.’ ...
July marks 90 years since the start of the Spanish Civil War, a brutal three-year conflict in which British working class volunteers played a valuable part. DAVID CONNOLLY reviews historian Chris Hall’s latest account of ‘the passionate cause’....
More than 90 per cent of Northern Ireland’s children still attend segregated schools. In a parting missive to his adopted home, CHRIS WILSON makes a plea for integrated education....
The Labour leader’s resignation is a chance for the party to revive its fortunes and rescue the country from the far right, says WILL BROWN. Does Andy Burnham have what it takes?...
Keir Starmer’s premiership is unravelling, not because of a single scandal or a momentary lapse of judgement, argues ERNIE JACQUES. This is the consequence of ‘a political project built on deception and enforced through accusation, intimidation and bullying’....
Labour’s performance in the recent Senedd elections has been widely described as calamitous and historic, heralding the end of an era of dominance that stretches back to the birth of the Labour movement. ARUN LEWIS charts the rise and fall of Welsh Labour....
PETER SMITH marks the 100th anniversary of the general strike with the tale of a Glasgow ILPer who claimed to be the first non-miner to join the walkout in Scotland. A lifelong unionist and Labour activist, he was also Peter’s grandfather....
Longtime ILP member and former Labour MP Harry Barnes has died at the age of 89. His parliamentary researcher, GARY KENT, remembers a deeply principled and consequential backbencher who ushered in many initiatives that helped preserve democracy and save lives....
Andy Burnham may not be standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection but his notion of ‘Manchesterism’ has gained much publicity in recent weeks. JONATHAN TIMBERS reviews a new book on the city that casts a critical light on decades of ‘state-led gentrification’ and working class displacement....
Labour came to power promising unprecedented support for the co-operative sector. Eighteen months on the prospect remains more a taunting hope than the driving force of social and economic change many had wished for. CHRIS OLEWICZ & STEVE THOMPSON chart the progress so far, but fear a genuine grasp of co-operation’s transformative potential is...