The story of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual: a review of Barbara Allen’s ‘Alexander Shlyapnikov’
Ian Birchall reviews Barbara C Allen’s Alexander Shlyapnikov 1885-1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik, published by Haymarket Books.
North Sea oil and gas strikes and the industry crisis
As offshore workers on oil rigs operated the Wood Group continue their 48 hour strike, Brian Parkin puts the strike in the context of the wider crisis facing the oil industry.
After Byron Burgers: Everyone Who Is Here Is From Here
Joe Hayns looks at the context in which Byron Burgers collaborated in the deportation of its employees and the next steps for our movement. On Monday 1 August up to 400 people demonstrated outside the Holborn, central London, branch of Byron Burgers against management’s collaboration with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in the deportation of […]
Liverpool is Corbyn-land: 10,000 rally in support of Labour leader
On 1 August, there was a 10,000 strong rally in support of Jeremy Corbyn in Liverpool.
Hundreds protest in solidarity with deported Byron Burgers workers
Yesterday around 500 people took part in a protest outside Byron Burgers in Holborn, Central London. Protests also took place in other cities around the country. This was after management at the restaurant chain colluded with the UK border authority to lure migrant workers into a trap, resulting the the deportation of the workers. At […]
The Somme: Remember…and explain
Ian Birchall reviews Neil Faulkner’s new pamphlet, Have You Forgotten Yet? The Truth about the Somme I happened to be on Waterloo Station on 1st July. When I saw dozens of young soldiers assembling, I wondered for a moment if our rulers had launched a military coup to reverse the referendum. Later I learned that it was […]
Revolutionaries and Labourism
Jonas Liston discusse the relationship between revolutionaries and the Labour Party.
These workers weren’t going anywhere: Hotel Workers statement on the Byron immigration raid
Hotel Workers Branch of Unite the union issued this statement following the detaining of a number of workers at the Byron burger chain by the UK Border Agency (UKBA). The workers were lured to a team meeting by management before being confronted by UKBA. They now face deportation. 70% of workers in London’s hospitality sector […]
Fawley refinery: Solidarity wins equal pay for migrant workers
Brian Parkin reports that Fawley workers show that solidarity can triumph over scapegoating other workers, rather than fighting the bosses. Yesterday (27 July) at 10.00 am, just four hours before workers at the giant Exxon/Mobil petroleum refinery at Fawley in Hampshire were due to commence their second 24 hour strike, management conceded to their demands. Even in […]
I joined the Labour Party – maybe you should too
Activists Alison and Adam, who recently joined the Labour Party, put arguments for socialists joining Labour.
Obituary: Bartley Willcock
Ian Allinson and Sam O’Brien describe the remarkable life of Brian Bartley Willcock who died last week at the age of 82. Note: this has been updated with some details about funeral arrangements at the bottom. From an early age Bartley got very involved in his local church, St Clement’s Higher Openshaw, across the road […]
Troubled oil on troubled waters: First North Sea oil and gas strike in 30 years
400 workers are currently taking part in the first strike in 30 years on North Sea oil rigs. Brian Parkin reports Since the downward oil price shock of November 2014, oil and gas companies worldwide have been struggling to stay in business by any means possible. For some, this has meant abandoning marginal fields or selling-on […]
What would a British revolution look like – and how would it happen?
Neil Davidson discusses the prospects for revolution in Britain in an article originally published on The Conversation.
I hope Corbyn wins, but I’m not going to join the Labour Party
There is a danger of people devoting most of their energies to struggles inside the Labour Party.
Owen Smith versus Jeremy Corbyn – slick politicians versus the people
Seb Cooke comments on the battle for the Labour leadership.
‘End marginalization, treat us humanely’: Somalis protest in Wandsworth
This week, the Somali community in Wandsworth protested their treatment at the hands of Wandsworth social services. Kate Bradley reports. Around 200 protesters filled the street outside the offices of Wandsworth Council in south London on Monday to protest what they describe as the “heavy-handedness” of Wandsworth social services in their treatment of the local […]
1936: revolution in Spain
Andy Durgan is author of The Spanish Civil War (Palgrave 2007) and Comunismo, revolución y movimiento obrero en Cataluña 1920-1936. Los orÃgenes del POUM (Laertes, 2016). In the latest of a series of articles marking the anniversary of General Franco’s military coup against the Republican government of Spain, he argues that the revolution was always up […]
Davey Hopper obituary
Brian Parkin remembers Davey Hopper, president of the Durham Miners, who died suddenly of a heart attack on 16 July aged 73 at his home in East Boldon, the Durham pit village of his birth. Davey was a militant lodge delegate at Monkwearmouth colliery during the 1984-85 miners strike and rose to be an area […]
Britain’s political shakeup
Jonny Jones assesses the state of play in the Tory Party following Theresa May’s assumption of the leadership and the challenge to Jeremy Corbyn’s position as Labour leader.
Homage to Catalonia: the working class in the saddle
In a series of articles marking the anniversary of General Franco’s military coup against the Republican government of Spain Colin Revolting revisits George Orwell’s masterpiece of revolutionary reportage.
Unite conference backs Corbyn and mandatory reselection of MPs
Ian Allinson gives a second update on Unite Policy Conference which took major decisions on migration, industrial strategy, backing Jeremy Corbyn and mandatory re-selection of MPs, fracking and climate change.
Delegates put argument for scrapping Trident at Unite conference
A delegate reports from the Unite Policy Conference 2016 on Trident, Corbyn and the Trade Union Act Len McCluskey’s opening speech This year’s Unite policy conference takes place against a backdrop of unprecedented political crisis. Following the Brexit vote, the establishment are directly intervening in the Labour leadership crisis. In his opening speech, Len McCluskey […]
A return to the madness – Zimbabwe’s reawakening
Leo Zeilig, author of a recent book on Franz Fanon, reports on how a national shutdown is threatening Zimbabwe’s Mugabe regime and explains the origins of the current struggle. Last week a national shutdown or ‘stay away’ in Zimbabwe paralysed the country. For the first time in years the country’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, and the […]
BLM Cincinnati Statement on Police Brutality and Recent Events in Dallas
This statement was originally shared by Black Lives Matter Cincinnati through social media. On July 7, five police officers were reportedly killed by a sniper in Dallas, Texas. Law enforcement, media outlets, and elected officials are sniffing for a link between these deaths and the women and men organizing actions across the country to condemn police […]
Unite Against Trident
Brian Parkin and Raymond M have written a new rs21 pamphlet taking on the arguments about Trident, the arms industry and diversification into socially useful production. The issue of Trident has proved to be massively divisive within the UK labour movement and beyond. Undoubtedly Trident was one of the issues around which the right of […]
Chilcot was vindication for everyone who opposed the Iraq War
Seb Cooke discusses how the movement that opposed the Iraq War in 2003 has been vindicated in the findings of yesterday’s Chilcot report If you’re on the left in Britain and anywhere in your late-twenties or thirties, chances are you came into politics via the Iraq War. On the 15th February each year, people of […]
Reactions to Brexit: the March for Europe
Last Saturday, 2 July 2016, over 100,000 people marched through central London to protest against the outcome of the recent British referendum on EU membership. Bettina Trabant reports. The march, organised on social media, set off from Park Lane and finished in Parliament Square where people listened to a wide array of speeches, including those […]
Video: Jail Tony Blair
The much anticipated, and much delayed, Chilcot Inquiry is due to be published today. Jasveer Singh on why why rebuilding Iraq must start with jailing Tony Blair.
Junior Doctors vote No
Medical student Sophie Walton discusses the latest developments in the Junior Doctors’ contract dispute. Junior doctors in England have voted not to accept the contract negotiated earlier this year. 42% voted for, 58% voted against, on a 68% turnout. Dr Johan Malawana, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors’ Council, resigned when the […]
Teachers invest in action: NUT strike reports 4/7/16
Activists from Manchester, Birmingham, and London share their impressions of today’s National Union of Teachers (NUT) strike against academisation and other problems facing teachers and students. NUT rep Chris Evans writes: Around 700 teachers and supporters rallied at Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens during today’s strike against growing workloads, class sizes and academisation. There was a healthy mix of young and […]