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....
Skewering the Social Mobility Myth
Politicians of all shades trumpet the ideal of social mobility as a mark of a fair society. It’s a claim picked apart by Selina Todd in her rich and compelling new book, Snakes and Ladders. MARIA GOULDING is impressed by a powerful manifesto for change....
Coronavirus: Back to Normal in Newham?
JOY WHITE reports from Newham in east London where a changing community is struggling to recover from Covid-19 after a decade of austerity, inequality and widening wealth gaps....
The (Neoliberal) State We’re In
With the general election less than two weeks away, BARRY WINTER provides a snapshot of the appalling state of our society after 10 years of Conservative cuts. It’s time for change....
Some Suggested Priorities for Democratic Socialists
To help stimulate debate on the way forward for the left, HARRY BARNES has produced the following wish-list of priorities for democratic socialists. We welcome your thoughts and responses in the comments section below....
The Big Problem with Taking Back Control
Is ‘taking back control’ a useful slogan for the left? BEN SALTONSTALL responds to Barry Winter’s ‘beguiling’ question, one that raised many issues the left should be considering critically in the run-up to the next general election. ...
Taking Back Control?
Can the powerful slogan of the Brexit Leave campaign be harnessed by the left? BARRY WINTER argues that it is already gaining purchase among campaigners, politicians and organisations…...
How Corbyn’s Rise Attracted the Young
Jeremy Corbyn’s appeal to young people has dispelled a few myths about their political apathy and disengagement. SAFFRON ROSE reviews a new book that looks at the lives of young people in Britain today and considers why the Labour leader has been such an inspiring figure....
Is Our Democracy Broken?
The state of British democracy and how we can fix it will come under scrutiny at the Dronfield Labour party Discussion Meeting in north-east Derbyshire this Sunday when Vicky Seddon, coordinator of Sheffield for Democracy, will be the main speaker....
Re-balancing Education: Dear Labour Councillor…
BEN SELLERS wrote an angry and articulate open letter to Durham County councillors on his blog last month, following their decision to suspend plans to cut the pay of local teaching assistants. As part of our series on education, we are re-publishing his letter below, prefaced with an explanatory note from ILP chair DAVID...
Unbalanced Britain: Education and Inequality
MELISSA BENN examines the continuing inequalities in our education system, and the failures of recent governments to close the gaps. What could Labour do to promote an alternative vision? Despite endless policy initiatives, exhaustive reforms and official obeisance to the questionable aim of ‘social mobility’, our education system still has yawning gaps in outcomes between...
Re-balancing Education: The Democratic Deficit
VICKY SEDDON attended the ILP’s Unbalanced Britain conference on education last month. Here, she argues that any future progressive reforms must include changes to our structures of democracy and control. The ILP hosted a very interesting discussion on 4 March in Sheffield. Melissa Benn was informative, strategic and focussed; Julie Thorpe was interesting and thought-provoking...