The Lies That Keep Pay Low
The Tories claim real-terms pay rises are ‘unaffordable’, but it’s not the economy they’re worried about – it’s workers winning and inspiring others to follow their example.
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Grace Blakeley is a staff writer at Tribune.
The Tories claim real-terms pay rises are ‘unaffordable’, but it’s not the economy they’re worried about – it’s workers winning and inspiring others to follow their example.
Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales was once the slate capital of the world. Now it’s pioneering grassroots alternatives to the devastation of post-industrial capitalism – and pointing a way toward a socialist society.
David Cameron’s Tories justified austerity by saying we were ‘all in it together’. Now millions are going hungry and public services are on their knees while the rich enjoy the spoils – we can’t afford to let them lie again.
David Cameron’s Tories justified austerity by saying we were ‘all in it together’. Now millions are going hungry and public services are on their knees while the rich enjoy the spoils – we can’t afford to let them lie again.
This week, Grace speaks to Aeron Davis, professor of political communication. They discuss the power of the Treasury and how the financialisation of the UK economy has eroded democracy.
Grace speaks to Milena Ansari, international advocacy officer at Addameer, the Palestinian prisoner support and human rights organization. They discuss the horrendous practice of administrative detention and the role of the Israeli justice system in upholding the occupation and the oppression of Palestinians.
Another round of austerity could push millions into poverty and public services to the brink – it isn’t ‘sensible,’ it’s an act of vandalism.
By pursuing tax cuts for the rich while the rest of the economy crumbles, Liz Truss has tanked the pound – and locked Britain into a spiral of national decline.
Liz Truss’s government is rehashing the idea that funnelling money to the rich produces more wealth for everyone else. There’s just one problem: it doesn’t work.
This week Grace speaks to historian David Broder about Italian fascism in the wake of recent elections in which the far-right party led by Giorgia Meloni, the Brothers of Italy, came to power. They discuss the longer-term background of the rise of fascism, which David will be covering in his forthcoming book, Mussolini’s Grandchildren.
On this week’s podcast, Grace speaks to Ben Tarnoff, author of Internet for the People. They discuss the history of the web’s enclosure and privatisation – and how we could build a different model for the future.
Today’s budget was an unashamed handout to the rich. Workers aren’t going to take it lying down, and everyone seems to know it – except the government.
The Global South’s resilience against economic shock has been systematically stripped away – both by debt, and by the austerity countries had to accept to get loans in the first place. That debt must be forgiven.
While the Treasury talks about scrapping caps on bankers’ bonuses, real wages in the UK fell 2.9% last year. The only way to change it: build trade union power so workers can bargain for better.
This week, Grace speaks to Ruth Wilson Gilmore, prison abolitionist and scholar. They discuss who is profiting from the criminal justice system, how existing institutions within the system serve to support and reinforce capitalist social relations, and what a socialist conception of justice looks like.
This week, Grace talks to Natasha Josette and Olly Armstrong about their community organising project, Breathe. They discuss challenges and opportunities associated with community organising, how it can be linked up with other elements of political strategy like the labour movement and electoral politics, and how you can begin this sort of grassroots work in your own area.
Liz Truss is styling herself a 21st-century Thatcher. The problem with that is that inequality is already up, the labour movement has already been weakened, and there’s nothing left to privatise.
This week, Grace is joined by Mareile Pfannebecker and James A. Smith to discuss their book Work Want Work: Labour and Desire at the End of Capitalism. They discuss why we are working so hard, what kind of work is valued, and what a post-work future might look like.
This week, Grace talks to Andrew Murray, former advisor to Jeremy Corbyn. They discuss his forthcoming book, Is Socialism Possible in Britain? Reflections on the Corbyn Years, which examines the Corbyn moment within the long history of the Labour Party.
This week, Grace is joined by James Schneider, former Head of Strategic Communications for Jeremy Corbyn, to talk about his book Our Bloc: How We Win. They discuss the challenges facing the Left in the UK and around the world—and how we can bring together the disparate parts of our movement responding to the cost of living and climate crises into a coherent bloc to build power.