Latest editorial
DISHONOUR AND HONOUR: (L to R) A US Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star drops napalm bombs in Korea, May 1952; Emrys Hughes (son-in-law of Keir Hardie and Labour MP for South Ayrshire in Scotland from 1946 to 1969) called for Britain to withdraw from the war
Credits: Public Domain
From London’s holly-sellers to Engels’s flaming Christmas centrepiece, the plum pudding was more than festive fare in Victorian Britain, says KEITH FLETT
Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
From a lockdown digital project to a vital tool for class solidarity, ROBERT POOLE and HENRY FOWLER reflect on half-a-decade of struggle
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
WE ARE often reminded in the mainstream world that Britain has had “a special relationship” with the US since WWII. We are less frequently reminded that over the same period the US and Britain have shared a special relationship with aggressive war.
During their wretched alliance, the US, much more powerful economically and militarily than Britain, has mostly been the primary aggressor, with Britain in close support.
The first huge example since 1945 of a US-driven war was that in Korea, begun in late June 1950 and ending with an armistice — but not a final peace settlement — on July 27 1953.
The summer of 1950 saw Labour abandon further nationalisation while escalating Korean War spending from £2.3m to £4.7m, as the government meekly accepted capitalism’s licence and became Washington’s yes-man, writes JOHN ELLISON
