Reform’s rise speaks to a deep crisis in Establishment parties – but relies on appealing to social and economic grievances the left should make its own, argues NICK WRIGHT
The selling of illusions
KEITH FLETT looks at how statistics and voter preference analysis obscure what the majority of the electorate expects from their government
Morgan McSweeney in Downing Street, October 2024
This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH
A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The FBU is demanding 52 weeks of full pay for women firefighters, highlighting the unique health risks they face — and the continuing need to recruit and retain more women if policies like this are still not in place, writes SEONA HART
Israel continues to operate with impunity in what seems to be a brutal and protracted experiment, while much of the world looks on, says RAMZY BAROUD
A new report by Amnesty International pulls no punches in highlighting the Labour government’s human rights violations of those on benefits, says Dr DYLAN MURPHY
With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
DAVID BUTLER, who died at 98, was a key figure in how British elections were understood and analysed from the late 1940s on.
He authored books after each general election reviewing the results and was a familiar figure on BBC election night programmes. In that sense he is part of Britain’s post-1945 social history himself.
Michael Crick’s biography reveals that Butler’s original interest was in cricket statistics but on returning from service in the army in 1945 he found few matches being played and switched his attention to politics.
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DIANE ABBOTT looks at the whys and hows of Labour’s spectacular own goal
The sidelining of social democrats and embrace of deregulation comes at the same time as a remarkable collapse in public support for the current Labour regime, writes ANDREW MURRAY, so why don’t we go on the offensive?
BEN CHACKO says a stronger Morning Star would counter the corrosive influence of press barons on our political culture
KEITH FLETT offers some historical context to the election campaign’s final period