Latest editorial
FAMILIES of men who refused to fight in the first world war came together yesterday at memorials to mark Conscientious Objectors Day.
About 65 families were joined by 300 supporters in Tavistock Square, central London, to mark the sacrifice and bravery of those who stood by their principles, often at great personal cost.
Lord John Maxton told how his father John was dismissed as a school teacher and his pet dog stoned to death by an angry mob after he refused to fight.
![Tapestry of Picasso’s “Guernica” on a pro-Palestine demonstration in Brighton. The tapestry is the creation of a Brighton-based collective project involving artists and local peace, anti-fascist and pro-refugee groups [Pic: Cate-May Hann]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/IMG_0912.JPG.webp?itok=R51Put6v)
From the battlefields of Spain to today’s campaigns for peace and justice, the spirit of the International Brigades continues to inspire international solidarity across the labour movement, says MICAELA TRACEY-RAMOS
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey explains why his union is proud of its members who fought in Spain
![Harry Pollitt (right) with International Brigade volunteer David Guest, who was killed at the Ebro in July 1938 [Pic: Marx Memorial Library]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/a-2_a_50b_Harry%20Pollitt_David_Guest.jpg.webp?itok=Ag0u-8n5)
ALEX GORDON applauds the leading role played by Harry Pollitt and the Communist Party in the fight against fascism in Spain and salutes the memory of the International Brigades
TONY FOX reports from a commemoration of the legendary Battle of Jarama in which four Stockton-on-Tees volunteers fell