Labour prospects in May elections may be irrevocably damaged by Birmingham Council’s costly refusal to settle the year-long dispute, warns STEVE WRIGHT
China under Xi Jinping: putting politics in command
In the first of a three-part series, JENNY CLEGG looks at the origins of China’s current leader and the ‘left turn’ he has overseen by insisting that ideology once again take a leading role in the life of the Communist Party
Xi Jinping inspects a factory production line in Laoxian, April 2020
HENRY FOWLER and ROB POOLE explain the significance of today’s Megapicket
One hundred years after 1.7m workers shut the country down in defence of the miners, the struggles that sparked the 1926 General Strike are still with us – and will be honoured on London’s May Day march this year, writes MARY ADOSSIDES
The Labour Growth Group and its think tank partner, the Good Growth Foundation, have taken funding from major lobbying firms linked to housebuilders, banks and Heathrow – raising questions about corporate influence at the heart of Starmer’s pro-growth project. SOLOMON HUGHES reports
The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a registered nurse and union member, has sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls from National Nurses United to dismantle Ice and related agencies, says MARK GRUENBERG
A Vatican photo-op, a hard-right donor and a rhetoric of mass deportations reveal how appeals to ‘Christian values’ are being reshaped by Reform and Tory MPs, says SOLOMON HUGHES
THE Communist Party of China’s (CPC) 20th congress saw Xi Jinping begin his third term as leader. But what are his politics? What has his leadership over the last 10 years meant for China — and what lies ahead for the next five years?
With China the world’s second-largest economic power, these questions, for better or worse, should surely be a high priority for any socialist.
The son of revolutionary hero Xi Zhongxun who rose to the leadership of the CPC only to be targeted by Mao in the Cultural Revolution, Xi himself was a “sent down” youth, spending seven years from the age of 15 working in a poor community in the west of China where he served for a time as a commune leader.
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STEPHEN BELL reports from a delegation that traced the steps of China’s socialist revolution from its first modest meetings to the Red Army’s epic 9,000km battle to create the modern nation that today defies every capitalist assumption
JENNY CLEGG reports from a Chinese peace conference bringing together defence ministers, US think tanks and global South leaders, where speakers warned that the erosion of multilateralism risks regional hotspots exploding into wider war
Western media dismisses the National People’s Congress while ignoring its extensive consultation processes, massive public participation mechanisms, and a tiered structure involving millions of deputies, explains JENNY CLEGG
Lenin’s theory of the weakest link shifted the centre of gravity of the proletarian revolution towards peoples’ struggles in the developing world, contrary to the expectation of Marx and Engels. The effect was to hinder the cause of socialism by decades. Time bring it back to its natural home, argues FAWZI IBRAHIM