The decision to cut billions from support for vulnerable people while refusing to tax the wealthy shows how far our party has drifted from its core purpose, writes BRIAN LEISHMAN MP
From colony to curriculum gap: the erasure of Irish history in Britain
From colonialism to the Troubles, the story of Britain’s first colony is one of exploitation, resistance, and solidarity — and one we should fight to ensure is told, writes teacher ROBERT POOLE
Delegates gathered to confront a broad range of issues from declining membership and a rising far-right threat to devolution and fighting union-busting giants like Amazon, reports GARETH LOWE
Starmer’s slash-and-burn approach to disability benefits represents a fundamental break with Labour’s founding mission to challenge the idle rich rather than punish the vulnerable poor, argues KEITH FLETT
In the first of four extracts from her new memoir, former NUM headquarters staff HILARY CAVE recalls challenging police intimidation during the miners’ strike, exposing how the full machinery of state was deployed against the working class
As trade unionists gather for their annual conference, battles against health service privatisation and exploitation of migrant workers highlight the urgent need to counter Reform’s divisive message, writes KERRY BAIGENT
Asif Jutt, a long-term Nestle employee, was fired by the management for trying to form a union. He self-immolated after a decade-long legal battle, reports ABDUL RAHMAN
As Starmer seeks his ‘Falklands moment’ while planning £6 billion in welfare cuts, a historical pattern repeats itself — natural resources weaponised against the working class rather than used for their benefit, writes MATT KERR
I HAVE a confession to make. I’m a third Irish, according to the DNA test my sister bought me for Christmas, yet it took me 40 years to learn anything about the history of Ireland. As the crow flies, I live closer to Dublin, where my grandmother was born and spent most of her childhood, than I do to London. Yet I’ve never even spent a drunken weekend on a stag do in Temple Bar.
My only introduction to Irish culture was singing rebel songs with my aunts, uncles and cousins at my grandparents’ house on Boxing Day each year. My mother used to tell me about her Irish dancing lessons and my aunt recalls being in a dance troupe called “Sinn Fein.” But over time, as the family grew and mixed with English blood, that sense of Irishness seemed to fade.
I’m not alone. Some estimates suggest over six million people in Britain and Northern Ireland are entitled to an Irish passport — more than the population of the Republic of Ireland itself! Yet I’d wager that one thing many of us share is our ignorance of Irish history.
More from this author
As the government moves to rein in academy freedoms, former darling of conservative education reform Katharine Birbalsingh cries ‘Marxism.’ Education columnist ROBERT POOLE examines how academisation has failed our children while enriching executives and empowering ideologues at the expense of democratic accountability
ROBERT POOLE reports back from his mission to Cuba delivering aid and learning from Cuban educators
After an inspiring meeting in Bolton Socialist Club addressed by a visitor from the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education, teacher ROBERT POOLE reflects on what we can learn from the education system in Cuba
As the NEU meets for its annual conference, teacher and union rep ROBERT POOLE reflects on the most intense period of industrial action in his teaching career
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