In writing his lauded biography of ILPer Ada Salter, GRAHAM TAYLOR began to wonder about the ILP’s ethical socialism. In a recent lecture to the Socialist History Society, he traced the history of those ideas and values which the Salters epitomised through their lives in south east London. I must start with a confession. When...
The ILP and the Spanish Civil War
Even after 80 years the role of the ILP in the Spanish Civil War is still a controversial topic. Its role was minor, says CHRISTOPHER HALL, but the contribution and sacrifice of ILP volunteers deserves to be remembered. George Orwell’s ‘Homage to Catalonia’ is still the most famous and most read book about the Spanish...
Labour’s Nuclear Question
Can Labour find a way to bridge its divisions over Trident? Or will a policy to scrap the nuclear warheads strike a final nail into the party’s electoral coffin? BARRY WINTER calls for a national debate and a Labour-led referendum on the issue....
How the Co-op Lost its Purpose
Without its history, its politics and its connection to the wider movement, the Co-operative Group is just like any other supermarket chain, says STEVE THOMPSON....
Soldiers for Spain
Volunteers who fought in the Spanish civil war were political soldiers striking a blow against oppression across the continent, according to BOB HARRISON....
Pigs, PR and Politics
GERRY LAVERY reviews Call Me Dave, the recent very unauthorised biography of the prime minister, and asks what Labour and the left have to learn from his and the Tories’ electoral success....
Rethinking Housing
In November 2015 Labour’s Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton launched the Building Homes for Britain report. Here, its researcher and editor SIMON JOSE outlines the report’s core ideas and explains why a complete rethink of housing policy is needed. For decades the housing market has trundled towards the chaotic state it is in today....
The Housing Crisis and the Struggle for Affordable Homes
The government’s housing policies are aimed directly at people with the fewest resources and the lowest resistance, says ELLEN ROBOTTOM – which means community campaigns such as hers are more vital than ever. In his discussion of the Housing and Planning Bill, Dr Quintin Bradley explored an increasingly familiar characteristic of ‘welfare’ policy: namely, that...
Halting the Unions’ Decline
Trade unions are in a spot of bother, according to SHEILA BANKS. And Labour is partly to blame. The party needs a new way of connecting to union members that taps directly into their workplace experience. Throughout my working life, I have been an active trade unionist and representative, so I want to look at...
The Housing Crisis Weaponised
The government does not intend to solve our housing crisis, says QUINTIN BRADLEY. Instead it is using it as a weapon of policy against the beliefs and attitudes that sustain the welfare state....
Blair, Management and Neoliberalism
New Labour’s transformation of party management was part of a much wider social transformation across the West, argues HUGO RADICE....
Debating the EU: Sovereignty, Autonomy and Power
The ever louder debate over the European Union is hampered by confusion and misunderstanding about state sovereignty, says WILL BROWN. The left is often befuddled itself which does nothing to help it confront the real issues....