Preferable to Starmer he may be, but there is scant sign of a sharp political break in Burnham’s policies so far — while left challenges aren’t making much of a running either, finds ANDREW MURRAY. How can socialism be put back on the map?
The routing of Oswald Mosley’s black-shirted thugs and their police escort by 250,000 residents of London’s East End in Autumn 1936 had significance way beyond the local streets or the year.
The Communist Party and YCL’s rallying call (Daily Worker, 3 October 1936) read: “Against Fascism! For Freedom and Democracy! For the victory of the Spanish People! For the raising of the blockade which deprives them of arms! For Peace and Freedom in East London!”
A champion motorcyclist, trade union organiser and communist, Clem Beckett went from Britain’s speedway tracks to the battlefields of Spain, where he gave his life resisting Franco’s forces at Jarama. GEOFF BOTTOMS pays tribute to this remarkable anti-fascist
Driven by anti-fascism and anger at Britain’s policy of non-intervention, thousands volunteered to fight in the Spanish civil war. Historian RICHARD BAXELL reflects on their sacrifices and enduring significance
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
CJ ATKINS commemorates one of the most dramatic moments in working-class history



