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
This special TUC comes at a historic moment for the labour movement
Middlesbrough MP ANDY McDONALD on why unions must press Labour for a comprehensive new deal for workers

TODAY’S special Congress called by the TUC could not be more timely, coming at a critical point in the struggle over the right to strike.
The Minimum Service Levels legislation that the Tories have forced through Parliament in recent months is an affront to a free and democratic society in which the liberty of working people to withdraw their labour is respected. It therefore demands the strongest possible response from the labour and trade union movement.
So, it is vital that trade unions take the opportunity presented by what TUC general secretary Paul Nowak has described as a “once in a generation gathering” to send a message to this contemptible Conservative government that workers will not lie down as their rights are ripped apart.
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