by Ramzy Baroud
Latest editorial
From the SDP to the Independent Group: The importance of politics from below
KEITH FLETT wonders how Labour's centrist split intend to function with no membership, structure or policies
US-based labour and social movements authors and organisers Robert Ovetz and James Tracy interview DANIEL GROSS about his new book, Unions of Our Own: Eight Building Blocks to Change Work and the World
Innovation in biotechnology is changing how we conceive of meat, say ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT of SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
JOHN CALLOW introduces the work of Geoffrey Trease, who placed ordinary people at the centre of his historical fiction for children, creating adventurous stories to inspire the possibilities of social change
Is the Scottish government in favour of drilling or not? Evasiveness and incoherence are the order of the day, argues KENNY MacASKILL
The Isle of Wight’s Victorian holiday boom drew visitors from across Europe, including the founders of scientific socialism, writes KEITH FLETT
A FEW days after the Independent Group (TIG) of MPs formed in the Commons, the Liberal Democrat strategist Mark Pack tweeted “who will be TIG’s Bill Rodgers?” It was an interesting question.
Despite having spent a year in formation with meetings at luxury hotels the breakaway MPs appeared without a proper name, no policies, no membership and no structure. Their cheerleaders in the media argue all these will appear over time.
The SDP which was formed in 1981 was a rather different and more substantial matter. On its founding day the Limehouse Declaration was published outlining its basic principles. Its roots went back much further than that though.
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KEITH FLETT looks at geographical roots of working-class activism in Britain
Labour movement history in Britain shows workers secured reforms through collective pressure and political representation, rather than being gifted from above, writes KEITH FLETT
The desperate French president keeps running up the same political cul-de-sac. DENNIS BROE offers an explanation
Who you ask and how you ask matter, as does why you are asking — the history of opinion polls shows they are as much about creating opinions as they are about recording them, writes socialist historian KEITH FLETT