With the rise of Reform and the flag-raising phenomenon, it’s hard not to recall my family’s struggles with racism, from Teddy Boys attacking my pregnant mother to me being told to ‘go back to the jungle’ at only five years old, writes ROGER MCKENZIE
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Politicians deliberately provoking language sets off race riots
SOLOMON HUGHES points at the Establishment as the inspirers of recent race riots and explains why Brits have a blinkered view of US politics
GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS: (L to R) Tim Walz speaks during the Democratic National Convention yesterday; Demonstrators during an anti-racism protest organised by Stand Up to Racism in Cardiff on August 10 2024
The move to restrict exports of the important rare earth metals that China has a 90% monopoly on has provoked Trump to declare a 100% tariff on Chinese exports and other retaliatory measures, reports DYLAN MURPHY
Royal Mail’s job quality has plummeted, with gruelling hours, two-tier pay, intense surveillance, and poor work-life balance for postal workers — but our union is fighting back with significant success, writes CWU branch secretary JOHN CARSON
Ben Chacko pays tribute to the author of our much-missed Frosty’s Ramblings column, a champion of the countryside and working-class culture
Introducing a new course open to all, JAY COOK and CHIK COLLINS argue the best way to fight hard-right rhetoric is to explain how everything we have achieved in Britain, from the welfare state to free healthcare, was the product of solidarity, not separation
To deepen the wound of closing Grangemouth, the wind power boom off our shores is going to corporations from France, Japan, China, Ireland — jobs and money going everywhere, it seems, except Scotland, writes KENNY MACASKILL
IN 1978 Margaret Thatcher said non-white migration meant voters are “afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture.”
The fascist National Front was growing. Thatcher was accused of trying to win their votes by using their language. Labour general secretary Ron Hayward said Thatcher used “National Front talk” and was “fighting dirty” on race in the upcoming election.
In the last round of fascist-led riots, this process worked in reverse: instead of mainstream parties opportunistically borrowing far-right language, the racist rioters used slogans written by the mainstream parties.
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It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
