It was no coincidence that the ILP’s founding conference was held in Bradford. The city and surrounding textile areas had a strong tradition of radicalism dating back to the early years of the industrial revolution....
The ILP: Past & Present (1993)
Out of these sometimes exciting and sometimes bitter experiences, often ending in defeat, grew the idea that trade union activity was not sufficient to serve working people’s interest. In addition, independent political action was necessary....
Young people to lobby Parliament
Hundreds of young people will travel to Westminster on Tuesday 25 October to warn MPs that the youth service will soon be the first public service to fall under the coalition’s austerity axe....
An unacceptable way to refound Labour
Much concern has already been expressed about the way in which the Labour Party’s ‘biggest ever’ consultation exercise – Refounding Labour – has been conducted but the problems just seem to mount up....
Cameron’s Con continues
With the Office for Civil Society – the supposed engine room of the prime minister’s ‘Big Society’ – hit by a hefty 61 per cent cut in funding, the government’s con is well and truly exposed, Unite the union says today. The cut to the Office for Civil Society is just one of the...
Pension lies
The government’s repeated lies about pensions have been exposed by the Today programme’s Evan Davis, writes WILL BROWN. For the second day in a row Government Ministers have been unable to defend Cameron’s lie that the public sector pension scheme is ‘going broke’. The claim was made by Cameron in a speech on Monday...
Labour, the left, and capitalism
An interview with Harry Barnes, former Labour MP and ILP friend, which appears on the Irish Labour Watch website: http://irishlabourwatch.wordpress.com Harry talks about his political influences, the politics of Northern Ireland, Iraq, Libya, new Labour, the Robin Hood Tax, and much more besides. Read the full interview here. Read Harry Barnes’ own blog here....
Thousands ‘surviving, not living’ in coalition Britain
Ahead of the march for the alternative, set to see thousands throng the capital to protest against the government cuts, the country’s biggest union reveals that many people in the UK are now “surviving, not living”. An independent poll tracked the concerns of 140,000 working people over four months from December 2010 until the...
Budget serves last rites on Big Society, says Unite
George Osborne read the last rites for the Big Society in his Budget, as he did not stump up the cash to revive the Prime Minister’s pet project. Unite, the largest union in the country, said that the Chancellor failed to plug the £4.5bn shortfall in funding for the not for profit sector and...
Sheffield’s day of rage?
William Brown reports on the protest at the Liberal Democrats spring conference in Sheffield and argues that the anti-cuts movement urgently needs to find leadership and popular appeal....
Iraq’s third big issue
We must look beyond the two issues that dominate discussions of Iraq, and unite in support of Iraq’s trade unions, says former MP HARRY BARNES In Britain, our minds are often focussed on two big issues concerning Iraq. First, should we have been involved in its invasion? Secondly, should our troops now be withdrawn?...
Coalition of the careless
WILL BROWN reports on the sorry tale of a ‘left wing’ attack on Iraqi trade unionists. As Gary Kent’s article makes clear, support for Iraq’s trade unions has been a contentious issue on the British left. Indeed, it has grabbed media attention and exposed some woeful political judgements by the Stop the War Coalition...