The Miners’ Fight in Their Own Words
Based on the accounts of nearly 150 people directly involved in the 1984-85 miners’ strike, Robert Gildea’s new book is a powerful retelling of the seismic struggle that has divided Britain for decades.
51 Articles by:
Tom Blackburn
Tom Blackburn is a Tribune columnist. He is a founding editor of New Socialist and lives in Greater Manchester.
Labour’s Love Affair with Private Healthcare
From the embrace of private hospitals to shady donations from private health interests, there is little to suggest that today’s Labour leadership intends to defend Aneurin Bevan’s vision of a truly public NHS.
New Labour’s Authoritarianism Is Back
From supporting the criminalisation of peaceful protest and granting spycops immunity to its crackdown on dissent, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has revived New Labour’s contempt for civil liberties.
These Strikes Don’t End with the Summer
Our current crisis was forty years in the making, and still none of the main parties have any real answers to spiralling inflation, unaffordable bills, or poverty wages. Hot strike summer might be over, but workers’ anger is not.
Starmer’s Self-Destructive War on Trade Unions
As workers across the country fight for pay rises, Keir Starmer could have highlighted the failure of the Tories to tackle the cost of living crisis – instead, he started a massive public spat with the trade union movement.
Westminster Drama Won’t Solve the Cost of Living Crisis
The successors to Boris Johnson are already lining up – but none of the ghouls who might follow him will tackle the cost of living crisis that is tearing the country apart.
Labour Versus the Workers
This summer of strikes amid a Tory-created collapse in living standards should be Labour’s moment to make the case for change. Instead, with interventions like David Lammy’s, the party is betraying the workers it’s meant to represent.
A Pageant for the Ruling Class
A celebration of royalty is a celebration of unearned status, intergenerational wealth and undemocratic politics. It is, in other words, doffing the cap to the ruling class – and the society they preside over.
Posturing Is All Keir Starmer Has to Offer
The Labour leader’s Beergate gamble is a thin cover for the fact he has nothing to say on the cost of living crisis – and making personal integrity a central pillar of your politics is a risky strategy when you don’t have any.
Why Rachel Reeves Prefers a Tory Government
Rachel Reeves’ admission that she’s ‘pleased’ Jeremy Corbyn isn’t prime minister was a betrayal of all those who campaigned for a Labour victory – and the policies they fought for.
Centrists Don’t Really Care About Democracy
Democracy is under threat, but it won’t be saved by centrist technocratic solutions – the only way to revive it is through the grassroots movements that elite liberals despise.
Don’t Fall for ‘Sacrifice’ Again
During austerity and Covid, workers were told they had to sacrifice for the good of the economy while the rich got richer – don’t let the ruling class fool you again.
Privatisation Is the Real Rip-off
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves recently argued that bringing utilities into public ownership wasn’t ‘good value for money’ – but for millions of people, privatisation has led to higher bills and worse services.
2021: A View from the Left
2021 saw setbacks for the Left across much of the West, but victories in Latin America are a reminder that socialist policies continue to offer an alternative to a system in crisis.
The Forever War Against Corbyn
Every day brings new reason to be furious at Tory rule. But little of this anger gets reflected by Labour MPs.
The Regeneration of the Labour Right
Three stalwarts of the Labour right – Margaret Hodge, Barry Sheerman, and Harriet Harman – are stepping down at the next election. But we should be just as worried about who might turn up in their place.
In Search of Victor Grayson
A new book explores the legend surrounding the disappearance of one-time socialist MP Victor Grayson – and offers a stark lesson in the political trajectories of those who leave the Left.
Politics on the Cheap
Labour’s financial crisis was made inevitable by Keir Starmer sacrificing loyal supporters and socialist policies to impress millionaire backers. Unfortunately for Labour’s leader, the super-rich already have a party that serves their interests.
How Starmer Exposed the Myth of Labour Party Unity
Keir Starmer was elected to the Labour leadership on a pledge of party unity, but his actions since have shown that Labour’s right-wing cares more about defeating the Left than winning power.
The ‘Kinnock Moment’ Myth
In the run-up to party conference, Labour right-wingers are salivating at the prospect of another public war on the Left – but Neil Kinnock’s actual record as leader demonstrates why that is a dead end.