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
Why BFAWU members are prioritising mental wellbeing
Bakery and food production workers have been candid about the impact that working through the lockdown and now into the brutal cost-of-living crisis has had on their mental health, reports SARAH WOOLLEY
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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
LAST WEEK, Bakers and Allied Food Workers Union (BFAWU) delegates gathered in Stone for our annual conference, a hugely significant conference for us as we celebrate our 175th anniversary this year.
It was an honour for me to take part in my first in-person conference as general secretary — a privilege which had been delayed by the impact of the pandemic.
As a union, we took the bold decision to change how our conference ran, to ensure that delegates left the week inspired and armed with ideas and resources to support members in their workplaces, raise issues, challenge management and engage with national campaigns as we grow our union.
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