The general thrust of the left’s reaction to the Tories since the hurried departure of David Cameron has been to focus upon the gap between Theresa May’s rhetorical flourishes concerning the problems faced by working class people and the brutal [...]
Read moreCategory "Cuts and Austerity"
Owen Smith: The Coup Candidate
Perhaps the most telling indicator of the divisions in the Labour Party were the automated suggestions offered by Google in the wake of the Parliamentary Labour Party’s attempted coup, trying to bully Jeremy Corbyn into resigning. “Who is Owen Smith?” [...]
Read moreTowards a strategy for mass resistance
This article is intended to build on the framework laid down by Nick Wrack in his article of January 2015, “Labour: mass resistance can win”. I endorse the perspectives in that article and think it takes us a considerable way [...]
Read moreStagnation: The new normal
In recent weeks startling headlines have charted falls on the world's stock markets amid fears about the state of the world economy. Take a small sample from the financial pages of The Guardian: "Markets tumble in Europe and New York [...]
Read moreLabour: mass resistance can win
In September last year Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour Party by a huge and unexpected landslide. He received 59.5% of first preference votes, winning in the first round. His Blairite opponent Liz Kendall obtained just 4.5% and came [...]
Read moreCorbynomics and socialist strategy
Ever since Jeremy Corbyn emerged as a potential victor in the election for the leadership of the Labour Party, I have argued that socialists have a duty to orientate towards the Labour Party. The alternative is to stand aside from [...]
Read moreBudget 2015: The strong do what they can
It is not a good time to be sick, disabled, young, low paid or a single parent in Britain. The new Tory government wasted no time in utilising its shock election win and the mandate they achieved for severe cuts [...]
Read moreDisability and Eugenics – Has Socialism anything to say?
Disability provokes such deep feelings and creates such controversy in society that it must surely be a key issue for any socialist movement. Yet communist, leftist and social democratic movements often have very little to say. ‘Work’ seems so central [...]
Read moreThe Elections, and the Left
For the May Day issue of The Project I was asked to write some reflections on the 2015 elections as the campaign unfolded in March and April. This, of course, implied an unspoken duty of some sort of prediction. At [...]
Read moreScotland after the elections
May’s General Election saw a surge in nationalism on both sides of the border. In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) overturned the longstanding dominance of the Labour Party to win 56 of the 59 Scottish seats, while the Conservative [...]
Read more