With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, John McNair became the ILP’s representative in Barcelona, channelling money and medical supplies to support the republican cause and liaising with the ILP contingent which fought alongside the POUM militia. McNair’s graphic account of the war was reprinted in the ILP’s Socialist Leader in 1974 and later...
New ILP Mural Postcards Available
New postcards of the ILP’s famous mural from its 1914 ‘Coming of Age’ conference are now available from the ILP website....
Make the Living Wage Compulsory
While recent rate increases are welcome, the Living Wage Foundation’s voluntary approach to employers is not working, says ERNIE JACQUES....
ILP Profiles: Mary Barbour – Govan’s Local Hero
CATRIONA BURNESS marks the centenary of the Glasgow rent strikes with a narrative account of the life of Mary Barbour, the ILPer who lent her name to the ‘army’ of women who led resistance to profit-hungry property owners 100 years ago. The Remember Mary Barbour Association is campaigning to see a statue raised to Barbour...
Osborne’s ‘Astonishing Attack’ on Working People
Chancellor George Osborne’s attempt to present himself as the champion of labour at the Conservative Party conference has come under attack from TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady after he reiterated his commitment to cutting tax credits for low-paid workers....
Keir Hardie Centenary Conference
The Working Class Movement Library will be marking the centenary of the death of James Keir Hardie with a conference to celebrate the impact he had on British society and the legacy he left for those who followed....
Brown Hails Hardie’s Moral Courage
Former Labour leader Gordon Brown traces the life of the Party’s first figurehead in a half-hour documentary broadcast on BBC Radio4 this morning (Thursday 10 September), a programme to be repeated this evening at 21:30 and available via BBC iPlayer....
A Vote for Hope
With only a few days to go before the Labour’s leadership election result is announced, TERRY JACQUES shares his reasons for taking the ‘difficult decision’ to vote for Jeremy Corbyn....
Keir Hardie: Evangelist and Strategist
In this chapter from a new book on Keir Hardie, BARRY WINTER argues that the Labour Party founder’s political life and ethical socialism can still serve as a beacon for the left in today’s increasingly unstable world....
The Politics of Panic and Failure
Despite what Alan Johnson says, the rise of Corbynism is a symptom of New Labour’s failed legacy, claims ERNIE JACQUES....
Reading the Past
The pre-war ILP plays a leading role in two new books of contrasting types – one a novel set in north east England, the other a radical ramblers’ guide to the capital. MATTHEW BROWN follows the literary and geographical traces of our past....
Left Book Club to Launch this Autumn
A new Left Book Club will launch this autumn in an attempt to revitalise progressive politics in Britain, much as the original LBC did in the 1930s and 1940s....