A Family Affair
Before he died, Walter Smith wrote a personal account of growing up in a left-wing household at the start of the 20th century. It is, says MATTHEW BROWN, a poignant reflection on the hopes and failures of the socialist movement....
Safety First: Keir Starmer & The Road Ahead
It may be a centrist approach, but Keir Starmer’s recent Fabian pamphlet does at least reveal the three prongs of his electoral strategy. DAVID CONNOLLY assesses a flawed and uninspiring statement....
Brexitland: A New Landscape for the Left
BEN SALTONSTALL reviews a powerful and timely study of the influence of identity politics on recent British history. It’s an analysis the left must consider if Labour is ever to rise from the ashes of 2019....
Safe Haven: How Kurdistan Can Point the Way for Labour
It is 30 years since Tory prime minister John Major was moved to protect Iraqi Kurds from Saddam Hussein’s brutal slaughter. The safe haven initiative provides a telling example for Keir Starmer’s Labour as it rethinks its foreign policy, says GARY KENT....
Building a New Consensus
GARY KENT recalls how some on the British left challenged orthodox thinking and pioneered an alternative approach to Northern Ireland that helped lay the political groundwork for the Good Friday Agreement....
Coronavirus: Poverty, Privatisation and Social Care
The UK’s response to Covid-19 has been characterised by government bungling and lack of preparation, says HILARY CAVE. Following years of cuts, privatisation and inequality, the burden has fallen hardest on the old and poor....
Coronavirus: Austerity, Crisis and the NHS
Why has the UK failed so conspicuously to cope with this pandemic? HILARY CAVE points the finger at decades of neoliberalism and 10 years of Tory-led austerity....
Coronavirus: Community & Solidarity in County Durham
MARY STRATFORD reports from the north east where the spirit of ’84 has stirred local communities and Labour members into building support groups and solidarity networks in response to the Covid crisis....
Coronavirus: Calderdale Under Lockdown
In the third in our series on local responses to Covid-19, ANNE-MARIE GRAHAM reports from West Yorkshire where community groups are adapting fast to meet the needs of vulnerable people....
Labour on the Brink: Debating the Party’s Future
It seems hard to believe that the 2015 general election was only 18 months ago, so profound has been the change in the political landscape since the Tories’ unexpected triumph. For Labour, the political and emotional traumas of that defeat have been resonating ever since as it’s reeled from Jeremy Corbyn’s shock victory in last...
Labour on the Brink: What Future for the Party?
With an unprecedented level of uncertainty about Labour’s future, the ILP is organising a conference for members and friends at the Rose Bowl in Leeds on 15 October to discuss the crisis and how to pull the Party together. Book now....
Labour on the Brink: A Statement on the Leadership Crisis
A statement from the ILP’s National Administrative Council on Labour’s leadership election and a call for the Party to pull together, whoever wins....