Cable Street Forever!

The famous victory in 1936 is still felt today far beyond the East End, says Liz Payne.

Events workers stage Day of Action across Britain

Yesterday (30 September 2020), events professionals around the country took part in various actions to expose the dire situation facing workers in this highly profitable industry. Graham Dakin writes about the conditions and challenges that have led them to this point.

Poetry Corner: Why I Choose Red by Hugh MacDiarmid

Why I Choose Red by Hugh MacDiarmid

Dr Christopher Murray Grieve, who wrote under the pen-name of Hugh Macdiarmid, was the greatest Scottish poet of the twentieth century. Best-known for what he called “Lallans”, a literary form of the Lowland Scots language that he developed, he also made use of English.

At different stages of his life he was a supporter of Scottish nationalism and communism. Famously, he stood for the Communist Party against Tory Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, in the Kinross & West Perthshire constituency in the 1964 general election, as part of an unsuccessful bid to get television time for the Party. His A Sprig of White Heather in the Future’s Lapel, written for former Communist MP Willie Gallacher on the occasion of the latter’s 80th birthday, is particularly famous among Britain’s Communists.

Here we feature Why I Choose Red, one of McDiarmid’s strongly political poems.

Capitalist ideas and working class power

Nick Wright discusses the prevalence of rampant individualism among Britain’s media and ruling class during the coronavirus pandemic and the ideological significance of attacks on public health measures as ‘Stasi hell’.

After the TUC Congress 2020

Daragh O’Neill discusses the outcomes of last week’s TUC Congress which was held online for the first time – and the challenges facing the labour movement as we head towards 2021.