A champion motorcyclist, trade union organiser and communist, Clem Beckett went from Britain’s speedway tracks to the battlefields of Spain, where he gave his life resisting Franco’s forces at Jarama. GEOFF BOTTOMS pays tribute to this remarkable anti-fascist

GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film

GEOFF BOTTOMS says improving palliative care needs to move up the political agenda — and the risks to vulnerable and socially disadvantaged groups posed by legal assisted suicide make this more urgent

GEOFF BOTTOMS recalls meeting Fidel Castro in the ’90s after joining a Pastors for Peace caravan to Cuba, and reflects on how international support is still vital to help the island withstand economic warfare

The Pontiff has expressed outspoken opposition to war and ‘inhuman’ policies on immigration, undermining the president’s credibility among both allies and supporters alike, says GEOFF BOTTOMS

GEOFF BOTTOMS relishes a profoundly human portrait of a family as it evolves across 55 years in Sheffield

As the US intensifies its economic and political pressure it is now vitally important to demand the British government intervene to end US aggression, writes GEOFF BOTTOMS

GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends an inspiring, political and bittersweet account of the munitions factory workers who are the fore-runners of the modern women’s game

GEOFF BOTTOMS applauds a version set amid the violent conflicts of the 19th century west African Oyo empire before the intervention of British colonialism

GEOFF BOTTOMS applauds a timely and necessary play that explores the experience of neurodiverse twins

GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic

Pantos have the power to confirm people’s prejudices or sub-consciously challenge homophobic and transphobic attitudes, suggests GEOFF BOTTOMS