Unite Community has been at the heart of campaigns against Tory cuts to Universal Credit. HEATHER BLAKEY and GERRY LAVERY report on the ongoing battle for a new ‘common sense’....
Marching Altogether: Lessons of the Jarrow Crusade
MATT PERRY marks the 85th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade with a call for the revival of the grassroots campaigning politics that roused the marchers on their month-long trek and helped Labour recover from electoral disaster in the 1930s....
United by the Struggle
MARY STRATFORD reviews a joint memoir from two remarkable women who were thrust into the spotlight by the 1984 miners’ strike and found a shared sense of values, commitment and joy. ‘It is so rare to see a book in which defiant working-class women are able to recount their own tales and define their own...
Scotland’s Future & the Case for Federalism
Brexit, Covid, and the looming prospect of Scottish independence – why now is the right time to propose a federal model for power sharing. By PAULINE BRYAN...
Labour Conference: One Rule for Them …
WILL BROWN assesses the mixed bag of high-handed and factionally-driven party rule changes pushed through Labour conference in the wake of Keir Starmer’s last minute proposals....
After McCluskey: Unite at a Crossroads
As Len McCluskey retires, the ballot to elect the next general secretary of Unite opens on Monday 5 July. For the union, Labour and the left, there’s a lot at stake. GERRY LAVERY assesses the field....
How the ILP’s Vision Created the Labour Party
It is a common misconception that trade unions founded the Labour Party in 1900. Not so, says JOHN H GRIGG. It was the ILP that drove the initiative....
Positive Pandemic Stories Needed for TUC’s HeartUnions Week
The TUC is asking union members and reps to share positive stories of how they have supported colleagues during the Covid-19 pandemic as part of its HeartUnions week taking place on 8-14 February....
The Pit Families’ Powerhouse: Remembering Anne Suddick
Anyone from Northumberland or County Durham involved in the 1984 miners’ strike will know the name of Anne Suddick, who died in January aged 72. Anne was a founding member of Women Against Pit Closures, set up the Durham Miners’ Support Group, and coordinated the Northumberland and Durham Justice for Mineworkers Campaign. MARY STRATFORD...
Keir Hardie & the Power of Anger
Labour’s founder is often presented as old and sad at the state of the world. But, argues PAULINE BRYAN in the Introduction to her latest volume of essays, his main motivation wasn’t sadness, but anger....
Labour’s Leadership Choices
Once the labyrinth of the Labour’s nomination process has been navigated, the membership still faces some difficult choices about the future direction and leadership of the party, says WILL BROWN....
Baroness Chakrabarti to Give Hopper Lecture
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti will deliver the third annual Dave Hopper Memorial Lecture at Durham’s Miners’ Hall on Friday 12 July as part of Education4Action’s ‘Politics, Pits and Protest’ 10-day fringe programme leading up to the 2019 Durham Miners’ Gala....