An Acceptable Sacrifice
During the coronavirus crisis, ‘underlying conditions’ has become just the latest throwaway remark reminding disabled people that society doesn’t value their lives.
4334 Articles by:
Billy Anania
Billy Anania is an art critic, editor, and journalist in New York City.
This Country and the City
Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper’s series ‘This Country’ might be a charming comedy about life in the Cotswolds, but it is ultimately more Bertolt Brecht than Vicar of Dibley.
A Decade of Austerity Ruined Britain – We Can’t Afford a Repeat
Today marks 10 years since the first Coalition austerity budget. The last decade showed that austerity can be worse for the economy than any recession – but the government is determined to ignore the lesson.
Why We Need a National Care Service – and How to Build One
Coronavirus has exposed the scandal of our privatised, fragmented, and underfunded social care system – it’s time to make the case for a real alternative: a National Care Service.
France’s Black Lives Matter Movement
Recent weeks have seen France explode with mass demonstrations against police brutality – sparked by events in America but inspired by the killing of young black people at home.
Glasgow’s ‘Magnificent Murals’
How has the city with more Turner Prize winners than any other in the UK managed to put up such consistently terrible public art?
Refugee Policies Can’t Return to ‘Normal’ After Coronavirus
The Covid-19 crisis has given governments another excuse to ignore their responsibilities to refugees. Before the climate crisis to come, it’s essential that everyone fleeing disaster is treated with dignity.
The Legacy of the Ogre
In Myanmar under the British Empire, a wave of strikes in the country’s oil fields led to a mass socialist movement that led the country towards independence.
The Fight for Asylum Seeker Rights Behind Glasgow’s Protests
While far-right violence claimed the headlines in Glasgow this week, the cause behind the original peaceful protest endures – the inhumane living conditions facing asylum seekers in the city.
Covid-19: The Disaster Automation Was Waiting For
Automation has been slower in recent years than many expected – but with the pandemic forcing companies to innovate, and borrowing cheaper than ever, many of today’s job losses might become permanent.
In the Red Wall, the Signs Were Ignored
Former Labour MP Laura Smith, who lost her seat in December’s election, responds to the Labour Together report – and argues that those who saw the disaster coming in Red Wall seats were ignored.
What Rhodes Must Fall Really Means
Rhodes Must Fall is about more than a statue, it’s about getting Britain’s universities to confront the legacies of colonialism – and that fight will continue whether or not Cecil Rhodes comes down in Oxford.
What Went Wrong?
The Labour Together report evidences the long-term trends that were behind December’s defeat – but if the party is to recover it must take the task of re-engaging with working-class communities seriously.
Glasgow’s Far-Right Violence Is a Warning to Anti-Fascists
Last night’s riot in Glasgow is a reminder to anti-fascists that the far-right is increasingly emboldened – and will need to be faced down by a united working-class movement.
Fighting Racism in Our Unions, Workplaces and Terraces
The CWU’s new football shirt – launched with the support of Show Racism the Red Card – aims to put trade unions at the front of the fight against racism not only in work but on the terraces too.
Remembering Orgreave
On this day in 1984, a paramilitary police operation set out to smash the miners – and send a lesson to working-class people across Britain that meaningful strike action would not be tolerated.
Workers Keep Society Going. After the Crisis, They Should Run it Too.
Coronavirus has shown us how workers, day by day, provide the collective basis that makes society possible. They stitch together the social fabric — only for capital to tear it apart.
Axing DfID Reveals the Tories’ Contempt for the Global South
Boris Johnson’s decision to axe the Department for International Development comes just as Black Lives Matter forces Britain to confront its imperial past – and is a slap in the face for the Global South.
A Federal Theatre Project for the 21st Century
In the 1930s, the New Deal effort to pull the United States out of depression included a Federal Theater Project. As Covid-19 destroys the jobs of low-income arts workers, we need the same ambition.
Why Trade Unions Should Support Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter movement doesn’t just need allies who condemn the murder of George Floyd, it needs comrades in the fight against racial injustice – and the trade union movement must rise to the challenge.