ILP@120: What Can We Learn from the Interwar ILP?
IAN BULLOCK examines three debates which occupied the ILP in the interwar years and asks what they can tell us about the relationship between socialism and democracy today....
ILP@120: Fred Jowett – ‘A great man of a new kind’
“He was a great man of a new kind, which the history books have not caught up with yet,” wrote JB Priestley of Fred Jowett. IAN BULLOCK profiles the ILPer who campaigned tirelessly for democratic reform. FW – or Fred – Jowett (1864-1944), known widely during his lifetime as ‘Jowett of Bradford’, was a prominent...
ILP@120: The Gift of an Ethical Politics
BARRY WINTER introduces our series of features on ILPers which begins with Fred Jowett, profiled by Ian Bullock, and will continue on the ILP website throughout the year....
The Living Wage: A policy with history
Ed Miliband’s much-publicised support for a living wage puts him at odds with a previous Labour leader – Ramsay MacDonald. IAN BULLOCK explains....
Social-Democracy with a Hyphen
The Social-Democratic Federation had various names and endured many splits during its existence, but at its best it embodied the crucial and often neglected link between socialism and democracy. PAUL MAYNE reviews a new book on one of Labour’s founding organisations....
ILP Lessons for Labour at Chartist AGM
A session on lessons for Labour from the inter-war ILP will be at the heart of Chartist’s Annual General Meeting in London on Saturday 7 July. ...
Commemorating the Leeds Convention of 1917
The 100th anniversary of an historic mass Labour and Socialist Convention held in support of the Russian Revolution at Leeds Coliseum in 1917 will be marked at a one-day event in the same city on 3 June this year. ...
ILP in Devon on BBC Four
The ILP’s role in promoting workers’ rights and pacifism in Devon during World War One is currently featuring in a documentary on BBC4, to be shown again this Friday morning and available on iPlayer....
The ILP Reaches 120
This year marks the 120th anniversary of the ILP, a milestone in British political history that we aim to celebrate over the next 12 months. The Independent Labour Party was founded on 13 January 1893 when some 120 delegates gathered at the Labour Institute in Bradford to create a national political party to represent working...
Make the Living Wage Compulsory
The campaign for a living wage is now supported by the TUC and the Labour Party, plus many universities, some local authorities, and some businesses and charitable organisations. It is long overdue, says ERNIE JACQUES, but to have a real impact a living wage must be compulsory....
Disaffiliation and its aftermath
For all its fascinating detail and insights, IAN BULLOCK wants more from Gidon Cohen’s The Failure of a Dream This account of the ILP in the 1930s begins with an outline of the party’s history during the seven years between leaving the Labour Party and the outbreak of war. The second chapter looks at...
ILP History
An Introduction to the ILP’s history The ILP (Independent Labour Party / Independent Labour Publications) has a long and varied history, one which is not easy to summarise accurately and adequately. Here, we offer a brief introduction to our history and provide a short reading list. If you want to read more about the...