Editorial The party which wins the next general election will be the party which presents to the electorate, in the clearest and most convincing way, a view of the role of the state in the society. No one knows what the position of the Labour Party is on the role and size of the state. Keir … Continue reading Sunak’s Agenda is Labour’s Opportunity
University or bust Part 2
What am I going to do next? Part 11 Dave Gardner In part 8 of this series I looked at mass university education in Britain and concluded that it had some significant harmful side effects. This was not a whinge along the lines of ‘more means worse’, a snobbish slogan attributed to the novelist Kingsley … Continue reading University or bust Part 2
What is socialism?
by John Martin This is written from an Irish perspective but opens up the discussion for Britain too. If socialism is defined by how its political representatives act, then its elements can be described quite clearly. In the Irish context socialists tend to distrust the State. All actions by the State are suspect. The State … Continue reading What is socialism?
Jeremy Corbyn banished as Labour MP—one year on
“WITHDRAWAL OF WHIP FROM JEREMY CORBYN: 1st ANNIVERSARY” Diary of an ex-Corbyn foot soldier (December, 2021) A year ago, 19 November, 2021, the Chief Whip is reported as writing to Jeremy Corbyn, suspending him from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) for 3 months pending investigation into whether he had broken the PLP Code of Conduct. The … Continue reading Jeremy Corbyn banished as Labour MP—one year on
Sahra Wagenknecht—The Self-Righteous
Sahra Wagenknecht’s ‘The Self-Righteous’. Labour Affairs is pleased to publish below our own English translation of the Foreword to Sahra Wagenknecht’s ‘The Self-Righteous’, published in Germany earlier this year (Die Selbstgerechten: Mein Gegenprogramm – für Gemeinsinn und Zusammenhalt. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2021). The book has had a significant impact in Germany where Wagenknecht is … Continue reading Sahra Wagenknecht—The Self-Righteous
Transformative Socialist Economics
IT'S TIME FOR TRANSFORMATIVE SOCIALIST ECONOMICS: AN OCCASIONAL SHORT READING AND VIEWING GUIDE Michael Murray (1) The problem stated: "The Labour Party believes that a Labour government can only spend what it has levied in taxation, or borrowed from the private sector. But it also wants to be a party of low taxation and low national … Continue reading Transformative Socialist Economics
The Melancholia of Class
THE MELANCHOLIA OF CLASS BY CYNTHIA CRUZ I REPEATER BOOKS £10.99The tyranny of the middle-class worldview CHRIS MOSS (Morning Star Monday November 22 2021) recommends a perceptive analysis of the dichotomy between working-class identity and its repudiation by contemporary society. Aspiration, assimilation, alienation and class are knottily intertwined in con- temporary Western societies. Success is deemed to … Continue reading The Melancholia of Class
Notes on the News
By Gwydion M. Williams Canada Drowns, Business Hesitates Government: It’s Not a Bad Habit China: the New Civilisation that the Soviet Union Failed To Be Snippets OLIMBY Covid: Survival of the Worst China’s Sputnik Moment? Unhappy Rich People Did Modern Humans Invent Cold-Blooded Murder? Canada Drowns, Business Hesitates “Atmospheric rivers are typically several thousand kilometers … Continue reading Notes on the News
Irresistible Things
Irresistible Things —This Month in Parliament This article joins together two others in this issue, on the one hand the editorial and the question ‘how will you pay for it’, and on the other hand the series on ‘What shall I do next?’ on youth employment. It refers to the 2021 Lords Youth Unemployment Committee … Continue reading Irresistible Things
The Government and China
This Month in Parliament 2 Questions in Parliament, 24th November 2021 Matthew Pennycook (Lab) Q7. The Government’s integrated review has concluded that the Chinese state poses a systemic challenge to our national security, and the Prime Minister has made it clear that when it comes to China, we must remain vigilant about our critical national infrastructure. … Continue reading The Government and China
How to pay for it. The case of Universal Credit
By Michal Lerner To win the next general election, Labour must give bold answers to the question ‘How will you pay for it?’. Let us therefore imagine an interview between an interviewer (I) and a member of the Shadow Cabinet (L) and suggest how the dreaded question should be dealt with in the context of … Continue reading How to pay for it. The case of Universal Credit
Russian Gas or Ukrainian Freedom?
Labour Affairs staff Johnson used his speech at the Lord Mayor’s banquet 15 November to raise the ‘Russian gas versus Ukrainian freedom’ issue and at this time it is surely significant. Note the headline in this report from the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/15/west-must-choose-between-russian-gas-and-supporting-ukraine-pm-warns Russian gas or Ukrainian freedom has become Johnson’s battle-cry. Whether it works will depend … Continue reading Russian Gas or Ukrainian Freedom?
Bataclan Terror Attack—Probable cause?
Was the terrorist attack in France (Bataclan, 13 November 2015) due to French interventions in Iraq and Syria? Amazingly, this question is being debated at a trial which is taking place at the moment in Paris. It is debated because the one survivor makes it one of his defence arguments. And also because the terrorists … Continue reading Bataclan Terror Attack—Probable cause?
Editorial 1 — Labour Must Exploit Tory Divisions
The most important political battle in British politics is currently taking place in the Conservative party. There is, of course, also a political battle taking place in the Labour Party, but it is of a different kind. In the Labour Party, the party machine is being used to suppress the discussion of any radical ideas. In contrast, in … Continue reading Editorial 1 — Labour Must Exploit Tory Divisions
Editorial 2 — The value of an effective opposition.
The Guardian Online of 4 October contained a page of reader’s letters in support of Sir Keir Starmer arguing that the criticism of his performance at the recent Labour Party Conference was unfair and only served the Tory interest. Aside from the fact that the “generosity” of the paper in this regard stands in marked contrast to … Continue reading Editorial 2 — The value of an effective opposition.
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