Durham Miners’ Association chair STEPHEN GUY speaks to Ben Chacko about the Reform threat, what’s needed from Labour and why the Big Meeting will never lose its politics
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Labour must act swiftly to lift children out of poverty
As she returns to Westminster, REBECCA LONG BAILEY MP calls on the new government to scrap the two-child benefit cap immediately to ease families’ financial strain that she sees in Salford
STATING THE OBVIOUS: Russell Trust CEO Emma Revie (left) and Warrington Foodbank volunteer Ben Pennell pull a giant receipt from a billboard installation near Finsbury Park Tube station in London, commissioned by the Trussell Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as part of their ‘It Doesn’t Add Up Campaign’, aiming to highlight issues following the launch of the new Universal Credit, April 2023
![Durham Miners' Gala 2026 [Pic: Neil Terry]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/SSS_20260711_DURHAM_MINERS_GALA_0-21.jpg.webp?itok=NUVjowji)
Andy Burnham’s message of hope will defeat Reform if Labour delivers the New Deal for Working People in full, says JOANNE THOMAS
General Federation of Trade Unions president and bakers’ union general secretary, SARAH WOOLLEY, guides us through the GFTU’s Summer School happening this week at Quorn Grange Hotel
The government’s latest asylum proposals abandon labour movement values and fuel division by aping Reform UK, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Can Andy Burnham’s programme deliver a productive economy – or merely a softer version of capitalism, asks VINCE MILLS
IAN LAVERY MP warns that decades of neoliberal policies have left former industrial communities behind — but a renewed Labour commitment to working people could change the political landscape
I WAS honoured and humbled to continue to have the opportunity to represent the great people of Salford, and as I busily packed my bag this week to begin a new term in Parliament, I listened, as I regularly do, to one of the rare songs that always brings a lump to my throat, a fire in my belly and gets me ready to champion the city I love.
It is a story about love, hardship and strength. A haunting melodic tribute to a city and its people, and a burning hope for their future.
The city is Salford and the song is Dirty Old Town, written by legendary Salford-born folk singer Ewan MacColl 75 years ago. It charts the confusion and loneliness of a young man walking through the nighttime streets of industrial Salford where life was hard, poverty was rife but pride was in abundance.
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Durham Miners’ Association chair STEPHEN GUY speaks to Ben Chacko about the Reform threat, what’s needed from Labour and why the Big Meeting will never lose its politics
The Durham Miners’ Gala is a celebration of working-class culture, but also a call to action — to rebuild workers’ collective strength, says KIM JOHNSON MP
