Bob Smillie: ‘One of Our Own’

Chair DAVID CONNOLLY was one of a number of ILPers who attended the commemoration of Spanish Civil War volunteer, Bob Smillie, in Valencia today (Tuesday 14 May). Here is his speech to the gathering in Spain where a specially commissioned plaque was unveiled....

Fear and Hope in a Divided Country

England is both an increasingly tolerant and open society and a more divided place, according to the latest ‘Fear and Hope’ survey published this week by Hope not Hate. In its fourth survey of attitudes to race, faith, belonging and identity since 2011, the anti-extremist campaign group finds that England is more tolerant and open...

The Strike that Changed the Rules

BARRY WINTER reviews the second edition of Jack Dromey and Graham Taylor’s book about the Grunwick dispute which has been republished by Lawrence & Wishart to mark the strike’s 40th anniversary. Forty years ago an amazing trade-union struggle took place in Brent in north London. Beginning very locally at the Grunwick Photo Processing Plant in...

Refugees, Women and the Grunwick Strike

The co-author of a seminal account of “the strike that changed the rules of the game” will be giving a special one-off talk at Canary Wharf in London’s Docklands on Sunday 27 November to mark the publication of a second edition of his book about the dispute, Grunwick: The Workers’ Story....

Historic Cable Street Pamphlet Republished

The ILP has republished a first-hand account of the Battle of Cable Street to mark the 80th anniversary of the day in 1936 when the people of London’s east end united to halt Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists (BUF) from marching through Stepney....

New Website Marks 80 Years Since Cable Street

Hope not Hate have launched a new website to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street when the people of the east end of London united to halt Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists (BUF) from marching through Stepney. The fascists were subjected to a humiliating defeat as the police...

Brexit: Organising for Dangerous Times

“I am truly worried about our country. We are living in dangerous times.” So says Nick Lowles of Hope not Hate as reports arrive of a rise in racist and xenophic attacks across the country in the wake of last Thursday’s Brexit vote. “The decision to leave the EU has been quickly followed by a...