Purging the left appears to be more important than a Labour council operating slum-like conditions What politicans do tells you … MoreRead more…
Is Fairphone fair for workers?
If you own a smartphone, you’re almost certainly contributing to several big problems in the world. These include a negative environmental impact, the production of mountains of e-waste as perfectly…Read more…
In 1933, the world’s trade unions forced Germany out of the ILO – let’s do the same today to Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a clerical fascist regime. It is essentially no different from the fascist regimes we know from history – Mussolini’s Italy, Franco’s Spain and most infamously,…Read more…
Help to Buy drives the widening gulf between house prices and earnings
In a recent letter to the Swindon Advertiser I quoted the price of a median house in Swindon increasing to … MoreRead more…
Swindon house prices race ahead of earnings
In a recent letter to the Swindon Advertiser I wrote about house price rises continuing to outstrip wages. Since then … MoreRead more…
Property price rises are bad news
The unattributed article, “Property prices rise in Swindon”, informed us that the average property price in April was £233,294. The … MoreRead more…
Review: Stalin’s War: A New History of the Second World War, by Sean McMeekin
Sean McMeekin is an interesting historian and has written some fascinating books encouraging the rest of us to take a new look at things like the Russian Revolution or the Communist International….Read more…
BREAKING: Lord Tebbit reveals that he received spycops intelligence about union activists
Lord Tebbit has revealed when he was Secretary of State for Employment in the Thatcher government (1981-83), he received reports from senior Special Branch officers about union activists, which…Read more…
Review: Slough House, by Mick Herron
This, the seventh book in the Jackson Lamb series, does not disappoint. I imagine most everyone who reads it has already devoured the previous six books. For us, the return of Lamb and his…Read more…
Thomas Friedman is wrong about ‘democratic socialism’
I sent this letter off to the New York Times two weeks ago. They have not published it. But I thought some of you might find it of interest. Thomas Friedman in his column “Trump…Read more…
Why can’t we have a “nation state law” over here?
Keir Starmer fails to condemn the racism of the Israeli state or to challenge far right racist views of an … MoreRead more…
Is Labour a democracy or an autocracy?
Is the Labour apparatus really going to war against its members rather than the Tory government? “Article 10 (of the … MoreRead more…
There’s too much lip service paid to tenant engagement
This is an article published in Inside Housing Tenants have to fight for the right to be consulted on a … MoreRead more…
Blacklist Support Group Opening Statement for UCPI – Dave Smith
My name is Dave Smith, and I am an ex-construction worker who has been granted Core Participant status in the union strand of this Inquiry. I am speaking on behalf of the Blacklist Support Group, a…Read more…
An attack on democracy and freedom of criticism
“Article 10 (of the European Convention of Human Rights) will protect Labour Party members who, for example, make legitimate criticisms … MoreRead more…
“Pathetic clowns, lousy Trotskyists”: The Left responds to a solidarity campaign with Belarus
A week ago, at the request of independent trade unions in Belarus and supported by global union federations, LabourStart launched a campaign demanding an end to state repression in that country. The…Read more…
Review: First to Fight – The Polish War 1939, by Roger Moorhouse
Here is what I think of when I imagine the German invasion of Poland in September 1939: brave Polish cavalrymen with sabres drawn, charging against modern German tanks. Horses versus steel. The…Read more…
Covid conspiracy theories – what’s a journalist to do?
‘It’s easy as journalists to feel a responsibility to people who are genuinely concerned, and seem to have found some “worrying evidence” that they want explored. The problem is that if you enter a…Read more…
Blacklist Support Group: Coronavirus demands on the construction industry
Blacklist Support Group supports 2 linked demands for the construction sector: #ShutTheSites – Close all non-essential building sites to keep workers and their families safe #PAYEveryworker…Read more…
The case for cancelling local authority debt
Rob Whiteman the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has warned of councils facing “a … MoreRead more…