Seventeen years after losing her council job due to needing endometriosis surgery, Michelle Dewar’s campaign for paid menstrual leave gained 50,000 signatures in a week, reports ELIZABETH SHORT
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Miners’ heroine Anne Scargill dies aged 83
HEATHER WOOD pays tribute to a champion of working-class women and a fierce voice of solidarity
Anne Scargill (with parcel), with Betty Heathfield (centre), and miners supporters outside Buckingham Palace, August 11, 1984
From 35,000 troops in Talisman Sabre war games to HMS Spey provocations in the Taiwan Strait, Labour continues Tory militarisation — all while claiming to uphold ‘one China’ diplomatic agreements from 1972, reports KENNY COYLE
White racist rioting has many an infamous precedent in Britain, writes DAVID HORSLEY
The SNP might dissemble over the meaning of ‘nationalism,’ but it can’t disguise the fact that it is no left-wing party, says ELAINE SMITH
Castro became one of the first leaders to denounce Israeli genocide against Palestinians at the UN, comparing zionist persecution to Nazi crimes while Cuba trained PLO cadres and awarded Arafat state honours, writes PABLO MERIGUET
The summer saw the co-founders of modern communism travelling from Ramsgate to Neuenahr to Scotland in search of good weather, good health and good newspapers in the reading rooms, writes KEITH FLETT
I FIND this difficult to write because like many I thought that somehow Anne Scargill would be with us forever — but she’s gone and we must never forget what she did, never forget how inspirational she was.
Anne’s name is well known throughout the coalfields, her face is instantly recognised. Her smile instantly lifted the spirits of many a woman and man. She was a friend, a comrade and a sister who will be remembered forever.
Anne Scargill is a name that deserves to be spoken with the same reverence we give to giants of the working-class struggle.
More from this author
HEATHER WOOD reports back from another packed annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, where Palestinian flags flew high and solidarity with Birmingham’s striking refuse workers was central
The Big Meeting isn’t simply nostalgia, it’s a happy day and a day to show resistance. HEATHER WOOD explains why
HEATHER WOOD tells the story of how she led the women of her mining community to tackle Christmas 1984 with militant working-class organisation and dedication, from cataloguing each family to collecting and distributing presents
Women have been celebrating the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike against pit closures, and there’s more to come writes HEATHER WOOD
