Durham Labour Left, a group of democratic socialists based in the north east, is organising a regional conference for local Labour Party members on Sunday 21 October....
Tribune Relaunched at Labour Party Conference
Britain’s self-styled “oldest democratic socialist publication” was relaunched at Labour Party conference this week with new owners and a new editor....
An Editor Reflects
MIKE DAVIS became editor of the Labour left publication Chartist 40 years ago. Here he reflects on the very different political world of 1974, how the left has been weakened in the intervening years, and the daunting challenges it faces today. Chartist was a very different political animal when I took over editing in spring...
Debt and Democracy: National Economic Institutions in a Global Order
MAURICE GLASMAN argues that institutional renewal of banks, corporate governance and land are vital to a new political economy for Labour....
Lessons of the May Day Manifesto
The British New Left had a critical approach towards neoliberal and authoritarian models of modernisation, ideas shared by more recent political trends, says MICHAEL RUSTIN in this his talk to the British New Left and Labour seminar held in London in June 2012....
The Challenge of Mutuality
This issue of Democratic Socialist is dedicated to continuing the discussions and debates raised by the ILP’s weekend school, held in Scarborough at the beginning of May. Entitled ‘The Challenge of Mutuality’, the school brought ILPers and non-ILPers together to discuss the politics of cooperation, mutuality and social enterprise, and examine their relevance to...
An integrated future?
Integrated education is vital to the future of a non-sectarian Northern Ireland, says Gary Kent There was a time when Northern Ireland barely made any impact on mainland and mainstream British politics. It was, to use a phrase popularised by the Sunday Times, John Bull’s slum. After partition in 1921, which Britain accepted rather...
You don’t need a weatherman…
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mike Peters takes issue with the whole concept of natural disasters In January 2005 there was a programme on British TV about global climate change, in a series called ‘War on Terra’. Seven dates were selected to illustrate the recent alarming escalation in the number of ‘exceptional’ meteorological...
Why is France burning?
Doug Ireland traces the historic, social and racial roots of the violent rebellions which swept France this autumn. The night of Saturday 5 November was the 10th day of the spreading youth riots that had much of France in flames this autumn. It was the worst night since the first riot erupted in a...
Where do we go from here?
Greg Power pays tribute to Robin Cook, who died in August, and argues that his contribution to democratic socialism has been underestimated The last chapter in Robin Cook’s memoir is entitled ‘Where do we go from here?’ It is essentially a plea for the party in government to be more explicit about the values...
Forward, not back
Following Labour’s third election victory, Peter Hunt argues that mutuality should be at the heart of modern socialism Months after the ballots closed, memories of the campaign remain fresh. Those of us with the experience of several general elections will have been struck by how under-whelmed the electorate was with Labour; how hard it...
Compass points north
Will Brown reports on Compass roadshows in Leeds and Gateshead Following its successful conference in London last June, the centre-left Labour Party organisation, Compass, embarked on a series of regional ‘roadshows’ taking in Yorkshire and Humberside, the north east, Scotland and Wales, among other areas. Besides launching regional Compass groupings, the purpose of these...