Deliveroo and the anatomy of the ‘gig’ economy
The victory of couriers in the recent Deliveroo strike tells us a lot about organising alongside new technology, both how it can be used to discipline workers, but also how they can resist that supervision. Charlie Jarsve reports: Yesterday the IWGB announced a victory. For six days Torrington Place had been filled with couriers and supporters from […]
Tories trouble families
Caliban asks how did the Tories’ Troubled Families project aimed at addressing what they saw as the cause of the 2011 riots get on? Five years since the riots this week. Interesting fact- you remember the government blaming the riots on “broken families” and launching a scheme to “turn them around”? You remember them announcing […]
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.
Revolutionaries and Labourism
Jonas Liston discusse the relationship between revolutionaries and the Labour Party.
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.
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.
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.
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 […]
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 […]
Brexit and beyond: interview with Gareth Dale
Gareth Dale was interviewed by the Romanian left-wing site CriticAtac about the what Brexit will now mean in Britain and more widely in Europe. Here we republish their interview. CriticAtac: So, Brexit has won. Nonetheless, it is not entirely clear what this entails and, indeed, if anything really major has happened so far. What are the […]
Austria: The rise of respectable fascism?
Joe Sabatini reflects on the social, demographic and ideological issues behind the Austrian Presidential Election, and considers strategies to oppose the far right. On 22 May the Austrian electorate came within a percentage point of electing Europe’s first fascist head of state since the 1930s. On 1 July, the results of the second round of […]
After the Brexit vote we have to expect the unexpected
Mike Haynes reflects on the results of last week’s EU referendum Do you have a clue where we are going and what position to take? Did you see it coming? The imploding Labour Party? This is the world of the unknown unknowns. The Brexit vote has ripped up their rule book. It is having the […]
Sherrl Yanowitz: 1942 – 2016
Jonny Jones looks back on the life of a tireless fighter against injustice and for a better world. Sherrl’s funeral will take place tomorrow, 1 July, at 2pm, Mortlake Crematorium, Richmond TW9 4EN Sherrl Yanowitz, who has died aged 74, was a lifelong revolutionary socialist and anti-racist fighter. Sherrl was born Shirley Grosse – she hated the name […]
Post #Brexit vote: taking on the challenge of ‘acceptable racism’
Kat Burdon-Manley analyses reasons behind the vote in last week’s EU referendum and discusses where now Racism in Britain has been on the rise since the start of the recession. We have witnessed the increasing popularity of UKIP, the shift to the right and acceptance of racism by the Labour Party and the structural racism […]
After Brexit: Keeping our heads when all around are losing theirs
By Rob Owen June 24th was a dark morning. Colleagues at school arrived shell shocked at a result no one expected. Friend after friend asked in worried tones what the result would mean. Meshed with disbelief were two common fears: that Britain had crashed into economic chaos and that a previously hidden, racist and narrow […]
With Corbyn, but beyond Parliament
Andrew Stone argues that movement around Corbyn has created great potential for socialists to organise and debate about how fundamental change can be realised. The co-ordinated post-Referendum resignations from the Shadow Cabinet to unseat Jeremy Corbyn will have come as a surprise to few. Indeed, they closely follow the plan leaked to the Daily Telegraph […]
Why socialists should support a British exit
Building on arguments made in previous articles, Neil Davidson lays out why he believes socialists should vote to leave the EU.
From farce to tragedy: thoughts on Jo Cox, the referendum and the rise of racism
Duncan Thomas on Jo Cox’s murder, the rise of racism in mainstream political discourse, and the need to build a strong anti-racist movement after the referendum – whatever the result. Together with other groups and activists, rs21 are support marches of solidarity with migrants and refugees on Monday 20 and Friday 24 June. Join us if […]
Migrant workers: legislating for precarity
Mikhil Karnik, an immigration lawyer in Manchester, explains how changes in immigration law are driving migrant workers towards greater precarity One measure of the distinction made between EU nationals and other immigrants is the disproportionate use of detention in Britain. Despite making up less than half the migrant population, non-EU migrants constitute about 90% of those […]
Part of the Union? – What should socialists argue in the EU referendum?
Can socialists take a principled position in relation to the EU referendum on 23 June, or should we wish ‘a plague on both your houses’? Charlie Hore puts the case for a ‘remain’ vote, Christina Delistathi to ‘leave’ and Rob Owen for a ‘radical abstention’ Campaign to remain There’s no dispute that the EU is a […]
The Rise of Donald Trump, ‘Anti-Politics’ and the Left
Bill Crane argues that while Trump is a clear threat, this must be understood within the history of American politics. Donald Trump’s race for President of the United States has shocked the mainstream political establishment. Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul most famous as a TV star with his successful long-running reality series The Apprentice, […]
US elections: “This is going to go down as a pivotal election American history”
With only days to go before the penultimate primary elections in the US, Amy Gilligan spoke to California based journalist, writer and activist Adam Hudson How do you think that Sanders will do this week in the California primary? Sanders has a decent shot of winning California, but it’s still up in the air. His […]
High Street robbery: workers pay as BHS finally crashes
Brian Parkin reports on the loss of over 11,000 jobs that will result from BHS going out of business, a story which has seen the former and current owners treat themselves to multi-million pound yachts, while workers’ pensions funds face a massive black hole. At last, after weeks of speculation, British Home Stores (BHS) has […]
US elections: “Bernie has suddenly given all of us a national stage”
Continuing our series of interviews with socialists in the US discussing the upcoming elections, we spoke to Nivedita Majumdar, Sanders supporter and secretary of the Professional Staff Congress, the faculty and Staff union of the City University of New York. This interview represents her personal views. Where now for the Sander’s campaign – will it […]
Welsh Labour keep going, UKIP breakthrough
Seb Cooke reports on the results of the Welsh Assembly elections, which saw UKIP gain seven seats. He argues that the task for socialists has to be to build a stronger radical left that can relate effectively to issues such as steel, fight racism and utilise Corbyn over anti-austerity The Welsh Assembly is made up of […]
Bad comedy and bardolatry: on the politics of Shakespeare in the age of mechanical reproduction
It’s 400 years since Shakespeare died, and Kate Bradley doesn’t care.
A grudging vote for Labour in the London mayor elections
Anindya Bhattacharyya explains why to humiliate Zac Goldsmith in tomorrow’s London mayoral election, a grudging vote for Sadiq Khan is needed. There are elections across Britain tomorrow – for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, various councils in England, among others. London will be voting for its mayor – with Labour candidate Sadiq Khan the favourite […]