Local campaign group Sheffield for Democracy is hosting one of many public events in MP Paul Blomfield’s annual Big Conversation....
Alfred Martlew and the Richmond 16
ROS BATCHELOR examines the short life and sad death 100 years ago of an early ILPer and World War One CO who paid a heavy price for sticking to his conscience in defiance of military orders. On 11 July 1917, a young man was found drowned in the River Ouse at Bishopthorpe, a village south...
Prisoners of Conscience
The experiences of Fenner Brockway and Eamonn de Valera in Lincoln Prison during World War One will be discussed at an event on freedom, justice and equality at Lincoln’s Bishop Grosseteste University in September....
What Next for Labour?
‘Labour – Preparing for Power’ is the title of Chartist’s annual open meeting and AGM to be held at the University of Westminster in London on Saturday, 8 July....
Labour Saves Itself, and Restores Hope
Labour’s unexpected ‘success’ in last week’s general election has been greeted with relief and joy across the left. But we need words of caution as well as cheers, says WILL BROWN, for there is still much to do to turn this opportunity into a real transformative victory. Given what seemed possible a few weeks ago,...
Historic ILP Building Gets Urgent Upgrade
Funding from the ILP has helped to pay for much needed repairs and upgrades at an historic building in Lancashire that once belonged to one of the ILP’s founders, Katherine Bruce Glasier....
The Progressive Alliance and a War of Position
Is the Progressive Alliance an idea whose time has come? GERRY LAVERY thinks so after reading a new Compass pamphlet on the election initiative. The call for a Progressive Alliance starts from the idea that our electoral system gives the Conservatives a built-in advantage and enables them to govern nationally even though most people do...
Unlocking Gramsci for Challenging Times
In this introduction to a new pamphlet on Antonio Gramsci, BARRY WINTER argues that the Italian thinker’s political insights offer a way forward for the left, and can help it tackle the dominance of ideas and practices that divide and disempower us....
The Age-Old Roots of Labour’s Current Crisis
Labour is facing an existential crisis, and parallels with the 1980s are painfully obvious. But the roots of the current crisis go much deeper, writes MARTIN WRIGHT. The Labour Party is the child of hope and compromise. Its political DNA was made from two main elements more than a century ago. One was the counter-cultural,...
‘Common Sense’ and Benefit Sanctions
In an extensive discussion paper, Unite Community member GERRY LAVERY considers how Antonio Gramsci’s ideas could help challenge popular attitudes towards benefit claimants and the fight to end government sanctions. Here, he provides a brief introduction....
Election 2017: The Choice is Simple
For A-level student student ROBIN EDEN, the Tories’ attack on the National Health Service makes the choice at the coming general election a straightforward one....
Co-op Members to Vote on Political Link – Again!
Co-op members are once again being asked to vote on the Group’s political link to the Co-operative Party, established by the movement exactly 100 years ago....