Jeremy Corbyn’s comments https://www.doubledown.news/watch/2022/august/12/exclusive-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-forde-report-the-media-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about Extracts The media silence on the Forde Report is absolutely deafening. The Forde Report calls into question the behaviour of senior officials of the party in particular during the 2017 general election, when, completely unbeknown to me, the general secretary diverted a substantial tranche of our much needed funds towards what he … Continue reading Comments on the Forde Report
Enough is Enough
Enough is Enough The programme of the protest group We Say Enough https://wesayenough.co.uk 1. A Real Pay Rise A significant rise in the national minimum wage and a path to £15 an hour, a real public sector pay rise, and an inflation busting-rise in pensions and benefits. After decades of stagnation and real terms pay … Continue reading Enough is Enough
Extra: One Sane Voice in Europe from Die Linke
From the Morning Star, 29/8/22 https://morningstaronline.co.uk/system/files/pdf-editions/M_Star_290822.pdf GERMANY’S current coalition is “the worst post-war government we’ve had” and is fanning the flames of the Ukraine war rather than seeking to end it, a Die Linke MP told the Morning Star at the Unsere Zeit Press Festival in Berlin at the weekend. Sevim Dagdelen, a Bundestag member … Continue reading Extra: One Sane Voice in Europe from Die Linke
Extra—A view from India on Ukraine
AUGUST 27, 2022 BY M. K. BHADRAKUMAR Ground beneath Zelensky’s feet is shifting https://www.indianpunchline.com/ground-beneath-zelenskys-feet-is-shifting/ Reading and rereading the US President Joe Biden’s statement last Monday on Ukraine Independence Day, one is reminded of English poet John Keats’ immortal line, ‘Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter.’ Three things are striking. Biden repeatedly invoked the abiding nature of … Continue reading Extra—A view from India on Ukraine
Editorial—The Fall of Johnson and The Energy Crunch
Why the political parties don’t want to tell the truth. Foreign and domestic policy are often related. Countries seek mutual benefit through trade and take measures to protect their own trading routes. They make long term arrangements for mutual exchange of products and services. In the contemporary world, the manufacture of a particular product often … Continue reading Editorial—The Fall of Johnson and The Energy Crunch
The making and breaking of Boris Johnson
Editorial 2 In many ways we have Jeremy Corbyn to thank for Boris Johnson. For, without the 2017 general election result - which came within a whisker of bringing a left radical to no. 10 - the British body politic would not have experienced two things: Firstly, it wouldn’t have led the mandarins of the … Continue reading The making and breaking of Boris Johnson
Labour and Housing, Part 8
Public rights and private land By Eamon Dyas In the previous instalment of this series I looked at the way in which the policies of the Thatcher government on housing revealed an ambition to go beyond the “Right to Buy” arrangements initiated in 1979. It was apparent from the context of those policies that Tory … Continue reading Labour and Housing, Part 8
Political speaking before lies and propaganda
Read in this issue of Labour Affairs a speech by Winston Churchill in 1909, on taxing empty property: not only does the speech use arguments the Labour Party could deploy, but it is also a model of plain speaking (as well as witty), in the days when politicians called a spade a spade. [Tax on Capital … Continue reading Political speaking before lies and propaganda
“From BRICS to BRICS+ — and beyond”
Diary of a Corbyn foot soldier (July, 2022) By Michael Murray Dictionary definition of foot soldier: “…a dedicated low level follower." (1) BRICS 14th annual Summit meeting Imagine: an organisation representing 43% of the world’s population across four continents, comprising 30% of the global land area, currently producing 24% of global GDP and responsible for 16% … Continue reading “From BRICS to BRICS+ — and beyond”
Ukraine—The August Counter-Offensive
Eamon Dyas— a Letter I find it quite astonishing the way in which the regular Ukrainian military defeats are counter-posed against Ukraine’s “initial military successes”. It is a constant mantra among western politicians and the media. But where were these “military successes”? Beyond a few battlefield skirmishes in the east and south anywhere that Ukraine … Continue reading Ukraine—The August Counter-Offensive
Churchill arguing for a land tax
Winston Churchill and the 1909 Land Tax proposals Herbert Asquith became Prime Minister on 5 April 1908. In becoming Prime Minister at this time Asquith had not been elected but rather inherited the position in mid-term due to the ill-health of Campbell-Bannerman who in fact died just over two weeks later. On 30 April 1908, … Continue reading Churchill arguing for a land tax
Newsnotes
Notes on the News By Gwydion M. Williams Did Russia Invade To Stop Kiev Overrunning the Donbass?The G7’s Proxy WarGeorgia Not Fighting to the Last GeorgianBritish Rail and the Imaginary MarketThe End of Thatcherism?China’s Mixed Economy Did Russia Invade To Stop Kiev Overrunning the Donbass? Western media speak of ‘Russian Disinformation’. But not this particular Russian claim. Which … Continue reading Newsnotes
Mick Lynch In His Own Words
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, speaks for rail workers who have good terms and conditions at present and risk losing them and for workers who have bad or no contracts. On the media and having a high profile: “… having a high profile on social media is one thing, getting a deal in a very … Continue reading Mick Lynch In His Own Words
Sharon Graham to David Lammy
Sharon Graham to David Lammy on British Airways: Supporting bad bosses is a new low for Labour Sunday 26 June 2022 The leader of Unite the union has hit back at the comments by David Lammy MP, Labour shadow foreign secretary, made today (Sunday) that he would not support Unite’s members at British Airways who … Continue reading Sharon Graham to David Lammy
BBC Newsnight on Ukraine
Mark Urban, interviewed by Kirsty Wark, on Ukraine BBC Newsnight, 27 June 2022 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0018t1f/newsnight-27062022 (29 mins in) Below is a transcript of Mark Urban's remarks on Ukraine on Newsnight (27 June 2022). Urban's message is that the Ukraine is likely to have to sue for peace in the late summer or early autumn unless by then … Continue reading BBC Newsnight on Ukraine
Half Earth Socialism
Half-Earth Socialism — A Plan to Save the Future from Extinction, ClimateChange and Pandemics By Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass Verso 2022 A brief review by Catherine Dunlop Reading the Islington Tribune the other day I came across this book, and as I have always thought that only socialism could do something about extinctions and environmental … Continue reading Half Earth Socialism
Let’s Avoid a 1970s Rerun
The TUC have called for a large demonstration in London on June 18th in the face of the cost of living crisis. “Working people have had enough. Everything’s going up but our wages. Join the trade union movement in London to tell this government: we DEMAND better!” reads the TUC blurb. They are right and a massive … Continue reading Let’s Avoid a 1970s Rerun
Coming of Age at the End of History
Review of “Free: Coming of Age at the End of History,” by Lia Ypi. Diary of an ex-Corbyn foot soldier (June, 2022) By Michael Murray Dictionary definition of foot soldier: “…a dedicated low level follower." In this issue: Review of “Free: Coming of Age at the End of History,” by Lia Ypi. … Continue reading Coming of Age at the End of History
Labour Affairs 