The Tory government’s response to Covid-19 has been arrogant, incompetent and irresponsible, according to global health expert SOPHIE HARMAN. In the first of a two-part interview with the ILP’s WILL BROWN, she says it is time for Labour to step up....
Coronavirus: Designing out Disability
As lockdown eases many disabled people remain excluded from public space due to lack of accessible public toilets. Local authorities should have a statutory duty to provide appropriate facilities for all, say DEREK BELL, MARY HULL, LIBBY MORRISON and JANICE MCLAUGHLIN....
Orwell and the ILP
On the 70th anniversary of his death aged 46, BENEDICT COOPER assesses George Orwell’s relationship with the ILP and its effect on his life, writing and politics. ‘The ILP helped shape Orwell and he helped secure, and clarify, the ILP’s once-maligned place in history.’...
Coronavirus: Poverty, Privatisation and Social Care
The UK’s response to Covid-19 has been characterised by government bungling and lack of preparation, says HILARY CAVE. Following years of cuts, privatisation and inequality, the burden has fallen hardest on the old and poor....
The Wonder of Clare in a Time of Crisis
For MARIA GOULDING, John Clare’s poetry is not only uplifting and restorative, but deeply relevant in our age of environmental uncertainty and social unease....
What Now for Scottish Labour?
Last December Labour returned only one MP in Scotland for the second time in three general elections and it’s been out of power in Holyrood for 13 years. The time has come for change, say DANIEL DEERY and CIAN IRELAND, or the party faces continued decline....
Coronavirus: Austerity, Crisis and the NHS
Why has the UK failed so conspicuously to cope with this pandemic? HILARY CAVE points the finger at decades of neoliberalism and 10 years of Tory-led austerity....
Coronavirus: Leeds United to Meet the Lockdown Challenge
JEANNINE SUDWORTH reports from Leeds where council, club and community groups are coming together to help the city’s vulnerable survive the Covid-19 pandemic....
The Root of the Problem
MARIA GOULDING reviews The Overstory by Richard Powers – probably ‘the best novel ever written about trees’, a tale with a compelling political message for our lockdown times. The characters and narrative are engrossing, and the big themes are of urgent contemporary relevance....
Coronavirus: Street Level Aid Breaks Barriers in Hackney
MATTHEW BROWN reports from east London where Labour members have developed a ‘hyper local’ model of mutual aid that could help reconnect the Party with its communities....
Coronavirus: ‘Sheer Goodness’ Shines Through in Beverley
STEPHEN DEAS reports from East Yorkshire where an outbreak of neighbourliness and co-operation are helping the market town of Beverley endure the lockdown. ‘There are lessons for all in this, including socialists.’...
Coronavirus: Community & Solidarity in County Durham
MARY STRATFORD reports from the north east where the spirit of ’84 has stirred local communities and Labour members into building support groups and solidarity networks in response to the Covid crisis....