To beat the populists reassert class – and stop Labour’s backsliding

Cartoon by Moreland (The Times) Guest post by Johnny Lewis In spite of the chaos Johnson and Truss left behind, they were still the heralds of right-wing libertarianism. Advocates of this ideology, present a set of ideas which links unfettered free market capitalism, (made possible by Brexit) with ‘traditional’ conservative values such as ‘authority' and …

Demystifying Lenin – 100 years on

Sunday (21/01/24) marked the centenary of the death of Vladimir Lenin, one of the most influential but also misunderstood, socialists of the twentieth century. In this weekend's Morning Star, for instance, the pro-China propagandist Carlos Martinez claims that: "To be Marxist-Leninists in the 31st century means to return to a strategy of a world-wide united …

Braverman, multiculturalism, racism and ‘Spiked’

Suella Braverman, delivering her speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington on 26 September. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Even before Suella Braverman went full-on Enoch at the Tory conference this Tuesday (3 Oct) she had signaled the start of her leadership bid with a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a shadowy libertarian think tank in …

TUC must clearly support Ukraine – no concessions to Putin!

Members of the Independent Union of Mineworkers who are resisting the invasion By GMB general secretary Gary Smith (via Ukraine Solidarity Campaign) No if, no buts - why trade unionists must stand with Ukraine Solidarity should know no borders. The belief in a collective response to injustice and injury is one of the labour movement’s …

Ist February: make today the launchpad to unite the working class against the Tories

Editorial in the new issue of Solidarity (paper of the AWL): On 1 February half a million UK workers will strike, the largest number so far in the wave growing since last summer. To win, we must make that day is a launchpad for much more widespread, coordinated and sustained action — and organise so it …

Defend Femi against Dempsey’s legal threat

https://twitter.com/i/status/1569389180861530114 The campaigner and commentator Femi Oluwole is being threatened with legal action by RMT bureaucrat Eddie Dempsey. This business goes back to comments made by Dempsey at a “Full Brexit” rally on 25 March 2019. The "Full Brexit" outfit is (was?) a front for the 'Spiked' organisation plus 'Blue Labour'. Dempsey said that “people that …

Grenfell five years on: never forget, never forgive

The fire began just before 1am on Wednesday 14 June 2017, when a fridge-freezer caught fire on the fourth floor of the 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington, West London. Today (14 June) is exactly five years on from the Grenfell tragedy and there are still at least 9,793 tower blocks in England that …

Ukraine and lines in the sand

Cartoon: Trond Sandes (TEGNING) Guest post by Johnny Lewis Russian forces invaded Ukraine with 195, 000 troops from land, sea and air. Protests were held around the world. In Russia, unsurprisingly the cops gave protesters short shrift, with thousands arrested and facing prison terms of up to 15 years. In our own small way the …

Saltley Gates: a historic victory for working class solidarity

From Workers Liberty: February 10 1972. It was a day that changed the course of British history – and led to the downfall of the government. The miners were on strike over their pay claim against the Heath government. The Saltley depot in Birmingham was a crucial source of stockpiled coke for industry, and flying pickets from Yorkshire …

Notes on Unite: how to function in the 2020’s

Above: 'organising' alone is not the answer to our crisis Guest post by Johnny Lewis Introduction. Sharon Graham beat Steve Turner (who I supported) by a margin of some 4,000 votes. For better or worse Sharon is Unite’s General Secretary and it must be acknowledged that during the campaign she showed real tenacity and unswervingly …