How should the left respond to the attack on the party’s broad church under the leadership of Keir Starmer? How can we defend Labour Party democracy? What kind of party do we want? Those are the questions under discussion at the ILP’s fringe meeting at this year’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday...
It’s My Party … and I’ll Cry if I Want To
Various Labour leaders have been and gone since she first joined the party more than 40 years ago, but come election time MARY HULL has always been an enthusiastic, door-knocking campaigner. This time is different. Here she explains why the Starmer leadership has tested her loyalty to the limit....
ILP@130: Anniversary Exhibition Opens in Salford
The ILP’s 130th anniversary will be marked by a major new exhibition due to open at the Working Class Movement Library in Salford on Wednesday 16 August....
A Legacy for the Future: The Case for Christian Socialism
If progressive politics is not ethical, how will it ever be attractive, asks CHRIS WILSON, for whom the Christian socialist tradition provides both inspiration and hope....
Labour, Lawson & the Attack on Party Democracy
Neal Lawson’s threatened explulsion from the Labour Party reveals a level of control freakery unprecedented in Labour history. The party’s long traditions of pluralism and tolerance must be upheld....
ILP@130: Past & Present Renewed
The ILP has published a revised edition of Barry Winter’s ‘The ILP: Past & Present’ to mark the 130th anniversary of the organisation’s founding in January 1893. This brief history, first printed 30 years ago to coincide with our centenary celebrations, has been updated and enhanced with new photographs and a new full-colour format....
ILP Profiles: Septimus Sweetman – East London’s ‘Eclectic Believer’
Digging through family history, RAYMOND SWEETMAN uncovered the story of his great uncle – an ILP pioneer and ‘middle ranking’ socialist whose long-lost tale deserves to be told....
A Tale of Two Keirs: Labour & its Broad Church
Keir Hardie’s conception of Labour as a broad alliance of left and liberal thinkers is under threat like never before from Keir Starmer’s leadership team. DAVID CONNOLLY calls for a halt to the current hostility and a renewed commitment to the founder’s vision....
Ireland, the ILP & the Slow Train to Peace
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland reaches it 25th anniversary on 10 April. The ILP and a grassroots peace movement played an often-forgotten yet important role on the road to reconciliation. GARY KENT aims to put the record straight....
Alistair Graham 1936-2023: ‘A great friend and a steadfast comrade’
DAVID CONNOLLY pays tribute to Alistair Graham, an ILPer for more than 60 years, who died on 27 February after a lifetime dedicated to the Labour and peace movements....
ILP@130: Striking Portraits Published of ILP Birthday Event
Photographer Simon Weldon has published an online gallery of participants at the Indie Labour Fest event held to mark the ILP’s 130th anniversary in Bradford in January....
History Online: New Directory of the Sheffield Co-operator
Sheffield-based co-operative resource centre Principle 5 has published a valuable online directory of the Sheffield Co-operator, the local Co-op Party newspaper that was printed monthly from May 1922 to July 1939....