Since Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power in Syria, the Damascus government has been given carte blanche to use maximum force against any threat to its continued rule, writes VIJAY PRASHAD
A working-class Christmas 175 years ago
Modern Christmas as we know it, with its trees, dinner menu, cards and time off from work, only dates back to the early days of modern socialism as we know it, writes KEITH FLETT, checking in on Marx, Engels and the Chartists in the 1800s
A Marx and Engles statue covered in snow
[Ingo Steinbach / Creative Commons] 
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
Britain’s proud asylum history, from sheltering the Kindertransport escaping Hitler to Basque children fleeing fascist Spain, required tireless campaigning against persistent opposition — and it’s up to all of us to do our part today, writes SABINA PRICE
The truth will out: we are here to unveil the full scale of the government’s complicity in genocide and to hold it to account for the monstrous bloodshed in Palestine, writes JEREMY CORBYN
As the Alliance of Sahel States and southern African nations advance pan-African goals, the African Union must listen and learn rather than parroting the Western line on these positive developments, writes ROGER McKENZIE
KEITH BENNETT reflects on witnessing the grand parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of China’s Victory Day, which impressively showcased advanced military technology
IN 2024, the Christmas period is marked by eating and drinking for those who can afford it and a lot of hard work by those who need to earn money for even the most modest celebration.
Looking back 175 years to 1849, when market capitalism was still a relatively new system, we find much the same pattern.
Until the 1871 Bank Holidays Act, there was no official time off at Christmas, hence Scrooge reluctantly allowing his clerk the day off on December 25 in Dickens’s Christmas Carol.
More from this author
KEITH FLETT revisits debates about the name and structure of proposed working-class parties in the past
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
KEITH FLETT looks at the long history of coercion in British employment laws
The government cracking down on something it can’t comprehend and doesn’t want to engage with is a repeating pattern of history, says KEITH FLETT
