BBC Interview with Sharon Graham BBC 14/7/23 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66203880 Labour needs to be "bolder" and "more ambitious", rather than "tinkering around the edges", the head of the UK's second largest union has told the BBC. Unite leader Sharon Graham warned that otherwise "apathy" would be the winner at the next general election. The union gives more … Continue reading Sharon Graham BBC Interview
From concocted assassination of Russian dissident to employing U.S. transgender activist – the evolution of Kiev’s relationship with the western media. - By Eamon Dyas The feature that epitomises the western media’s relationship with the Kiev regime is its uncritical approach to Kiev’s propaganda no matter how crude that propaganda might be. This was not always … Continue reading Ukraine and the Western Media
Starmer’s campaign of exclusion and harassment. Catherine Dunlop This topic requires a report on the scale of the Forde report, which took two years to investigate complaints of all sorts regarding the behaviour of officers and members. What follows is a selection of headings of topics that need to be investigated to explain how the current … Continue reading Purges in the Labour Party
Extracts from the Daily Herald [The Daily Herald was an important publication, being the only paper in Britain oriented towards the interests of the working class. It always struggled financially, not having wealthy proprietors. It started in 1911 by trade unionists; its line was always to support workers and strikers; it was against the war in 1914 … Continue reading Newspaper proprietors
In last month’s issue Labour Affairs argued that the British two-party system of representative parliamentary democracy was largely a theatre, giving the impression of serious political rivalry about substantial policies but artfully concealing underlying agreements between the parties on nearly all the important issues. Conventional party politics is an illusion of real choice. Phoney antagonisms are worked … Continue reading Party Politics and State Power—Editorial
Martin Seale Rachel Reeves made an interesting presentation to the Peterson Institute in Washington DC on 24th May. The speech was accompanied by a 33 page document called “A New Business Model for Britain” in which it was stated: “The causes of Britain’s economic weaknesses run deep, however. For too long, Britain has been held back by two misguided … Continue reading An Active State—Rachel Reeves in America
Martin Seale Keir Starmer has a primary objective – that Labour forms the next government. For that to be achieved he believes that he will have to convince voters who have never voted Labour before to switch their vote to Labour in the 2024 general election. Anything that in any way endangers this happening will be … Continue reading Starmer’s Moment of Weakness Approaches
Eamon Dyas We are living in interesting times as we witness the death throes of one world and the birth of a new one. But we, who are old enough, have lived through similar times in the past and looking back with the benefit of hindsight the main lesson that comes out of this is … Continue reading For what do we struggle?
The Labour Party wholeheartedly supports the war on Russia in Ukraine and sanctions against the import of cheap energy from Russia. UK support for sanctions is the main driver of domestic inflation in Britain as energy is an input into all products and services. Labour is not committed to any significant revenue raising measures by … Continue reading What You Should Know about Labour’s Economic Policy.
By Gwydion M. Williams Hard Right, Faded Left India Rising Snippets Bill Gates Goes to China Kosovo – Punishing Serbs Pro-Western Russians Hate Each Other Unwanted Afghans China – Solid Politics? More Illiberalism Hard Right, Faded Left Tony Blair persuaded Labour that we should drop our traditional commitment that the state could and should help … Continue reading Notes on the News
In 2008 Conor Lynch and Joe Keenan devoted a series of 6 issues of our magazine “Problems of Capitalism and Socialism” to Workers Control. They reproduced documents of the time for and against Workers Control, with commentary, including statements by the Institute for Workers Control, which, despite its name, did not support workers control when it came … Continue reading Workers Control
Glossary From Problems of Capitalism and Socialism special series on the Bullock Report, Number 2 AUEW: Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers led by Hugh Scanlon (see below). Anuneasy amalgamation of engineers, builders, foundry workers and white collar workers (TASS). TASS, which was Communist Party dominated, split away and merged with the Association of Scientific, Technical … Continue reading Who was who and what was what in industry and politics in the 1970s
[Since Mick Lynch made this speech, the government have announced the closure of all ticket offices.] RMT Press Office: In his annual address to RMT AGM, general secretary Mick Lynch said: "The RMT is sound, robust and in good shape to meet the challenges ahead. "However, we cannot be complacent because the challenges are significant. … Continue reading Mick Lynch in his Own Words
Minimum Service Bill (3) 21 June 2023 House of Commons—Hansard The Minimum Service Bill is not just ludicrous, it is also authoritarian. Having no opposition to speak of, the government acts as if it can do what it likes. Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab) He currently undertakes the roles of Shadow Minister (Business and … Continue reading Minimum Service: a “Ludicrous Bill’ (3)
The International Labour Organisation and the Minimum Service Bill From Morning Star June 20 2023 UN watchdog condemns anti-union Strikes Bill by Matt Trinder Industrial reporter The United Nations launched an “embarrassing” attack on the Tory government’s latest assault on unions and the right to strike yesterday. In a rare but damning intervention, the International … Continue reading ILO and the Minimum Service Bill
Jamie Driscoll banned from standing for re-election as Mayor. The Labour Party has refused to allow the highly popular Jamie Driscoll mayor for North of Tyne to be on the longlist for the new north-east region mayoralty. No reason was given as Labour’s bureaucracy continues to axe candidates with a smidgeon of socialism. It transpired … Continue reading Jamie Driscoll banned
The Labour Party is the official opposition to the government. What exactly does this mean? How should socialists regard the Labour Party? Finding a satisfactory answer to these questions is not easy. To answer them we need to look at the kind of system (representative party-political democracy) that the party system is embedded in. The … Continue reading Party Politics and the Labour Party – Editorial
Eamon Dyas I remember when I worked at the British Library at Colindale discovering how most English towns, and even quite small towns, usually had two newspapers covering national and local events from either the Tory or Liberal perspective. The heyday of this was in the 1880s. It went into decline when Gladstone’s Irish policy … Continue reading The Press and the Labour Party
Labour Affairs 