TOM NAIRN died recently aged 90. He was an important figure on the left from the early 1960s when he authored, with Perry Anderson, Origins of the Present Crisis (New Left Review 1964).

He was also notable for writing the Break-Up of Britain (1977) primarily on Scottish independence, and The Enchanted Glass (1988) on the monarchy.

While I certainly didn’t concur with his specific analysis on many occasions, his persistence as an opponent of the current British state was — and is — important.

In the case of Britain, the idea that the British left and working class are uniquely useless has been around for 60 years or so.

This point is a sort of offshoot of “declinist” theories of British history that see the country as never really becoming a modern industrial power, still stuck firmly in an aristocratic past.

Anderson and Nairn, writing in New Left Review in the mid-1960s, declared themselves to be profoundly disappointed with the “labourist” traditions of the British working class, compared to more exciting developments elsewhere in Europe.

While it is true that TUC general secretaries and Labour leaders are rarely radical firebrands leading militant action, the general thrust of their argument that Britain was exceptional was answered by the historian EP Thompson.

He noted that while it was true that the British working class had perhaps not developed a sustained and sophisticated Marxist analysis of capitalism, this might have been because it was too busy opposing the activities of British imperialism and its numerous foreign interventions and wars. It still is.

For a historian, the claim that something is exceptional always needs to be viewed with care. Comparative history is one of the most difficult aspects of a historian’s art because comparing like with like is so tricky.

It is better history to explain what has or has not happened by careful reference to objective circumstances, rather than simply noting things are better or worse elsewhere.

There have been general strikes and large militant protests in France against the proposal by Emmanuel Macron’s government to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64 (in Britain, it is already 66 and set to go higher).

The protests provoked much social media comment that in other countries workers fought back — but in Britain “nothing happens.”

Clearly, those commenting were not familiar with the Strike Map website. There has been a growing strike wave over the cost of living and attacks on terms and conditions of work going on since the middle of 2022.

At the start of February, 500,000 workers struck — and there will be more to come.

Media commentary has suggested that it is the biggest strike wave since 2010 — but TUC research has indicated that a more relevant comparison would be 1990.

In short, Britain is experiencing a wave of militant action. Notably, the Tory anti-strike laws of the 1980s — left largely in place by New Labour after 1997 — have had comparatively little restraining impact.

On the side of the capitalist class, IMF figures have suggested that Britain is at the bottom of the league table of the richest economies in terms of growth.

The Tories think of growth in terms of profit, but it should mean growth in jobs and wages. Here again, there is history.

TUC-backed research has shown that Tory austerity and cuts since 2010 have meant that Britain has missed out on £400 billion of growth as a result.

This is different from other countries but not exceptional. It reflects the balance of class forces now tipping away from the rich.