On a tumultuous day in Welsh politics DAVID NICHOLSON looks at the key issues for progressives in Wales to grapple with the rise of the far right

State machinery was widely employed to secure favourable outcomes in India’s recent regional elections against three progressive regional governments who dared to challenge Narendra Modi, asserts VIJAY PRASHAD

KENNY MacASKILL remembers the woman who first translated The Communist Manifesto into English

It is too early to assume a US defeat in Iran — we must prepare for a long anti-war struggle, argues JOHN ROSS

ROGER McKENZIE says the ANC needs to respect South Africa’s Communists and their decision to stand independently at elections

Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS

The election offers a critical chance to shape the future of pay, care and community provision in Wales, says Unison’s JESS TURNER

As antisemitism grows, the labour movement must recommit to defence of minorities while navigating the complexities of Gaza and global politics, argues NICK WRIGHT

As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR

When a computer program can outperform your human doctor, should you switch, ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

When only wealthier families can afford nursery, childcare becomes a class divide - financially and developmentally. REBECCA CARTER reports

David Nicholson spoke to BETH WINTER about her bid to become a Senedd member as an independent running on a community grassroots campaign

Disabled tenant RUTH HUNT found herself evicted by her landlord of 10 years after asking for repairs. She explains why the end of no-fault evictions is cause for celebration

Can the unity built between the Camden People’s Alliance and the Green Party make an electoral breakthrough on the PM’s home territory this week? ANDREW MURRAY talks to some of those involved

Plaid Cymru’s Caerffili by-election win raised hopes on the left — but the complex realities of Wales suggest the Senedd election may be far less predictable, argues CATRIN ASHTON

Politicians must seize the opportunity to act boldly and tackle land inequality, delivering power to local communities, writes Dr JOSH DOBLE

Banner-maker JEANNIE HARRISON explains how the Oxford Trades Council banner commemorating the General Strike centenary came into being and what it symbolises

MARY DAVIS reviews a concise history highlighting the strength of rank-and-file action and the limits of trade union leadership in Britain’s greatest industrial conflict

HENRY FOWLER, General Strike 100 national co-ordinator, continued his nationwide tour of partner organisations, joining the National Day of Celebration in Barnsley. The event was organised by Unite for a Workers Economy (Unite the Union), the Durham Miners Association, and the National Union of Mineworkers

Communist Party of Britain general secretary ALEX GORDON speaks to Ben Chacko about the coming economic storm, the relentless drive to war and the prospects of fighting back

The General Strike exposed the power of the working class — and the limits of its leadership, writes Dr DYLAN MURPHY

ADRIAN WEIR charts the intercontinental trade union solidarity with Cuba and its desperate predicament

A new strategy from the Together Alliance links the fight against racism to the wider struggle over austerity and inequality, says BILL GREENSHIELDS

Linking the General Strike 1926 to the struggles of workers today. General Strike 100 national co-ordinator HENRY FOWLER reflects on his recent visit to the Bristol Radical History Festival

LYNNE WALSH reports from the Bristol Radical History Festival, where the defiant tradition of resistance shaped by ordinary people was centre stage

A new wave of austerity is being prepared, and it’s workers who will be expected to pay for it, warns MICHAEL BURKE

DIANE ABBOTT looks at the perilous political cul-de-sac Labour finds itself in

DAVE WARD says the Employment Rights Act can be a platform to build back union power — but only if we can agree a common agenda

JACK YOUD explains how Salford City Council has taken on rogue landlords and won, setting an example to the rest of the country

The life of a modest Norfolk organiser contrasts with the dramatic rise and disappearance of a controversial figure in US labour, says MARK SEDDON

Aslef general secretary DAVE CALFE looks at how rail workers and miners stood together against wage cuts 100 years ago – and why the legacy of collective action endures today

As Africa’s progressives aim to consolidate its anti-colonial programme, VIJAY PRASHAD reports on the US getting a military foothold in Ghana

A new Solidarity Fund promises a more accessible way to support strikers, says SARAH WOOLLEY

Gavin O’Toole talks to anti-racism researcher HARRY SHUKMAN about the rise of the far right

Community members have begun carving cobbles for a future memorial to Sunderland International Brigaders. JULIO ROMERO reports on this growing city project

Inspectors have uncovered systemic failures at a Tory-linked institution in London, where students pay thousands but standards are undermined. SOLOMON HUGHES reports

The former Nato chief stirred up dark historical undercurrents with his call to cut welfare for military spending, says SOLOMON HUGHES

KERRY FLECK explains how the annual event unites thousands in a celebration of workers’ power, culture and collective resistance

ANN HENDERSON, of the FiLiA Trade Union Women’s Network, highlights the need for workplace action on stress, asbestos and sexual harassment — and more women leading on safety

The route to liberation does not lie in waiting for allies or chasing representation for its own sake – it requires consistent political strategy and collective struggle, writes ROGER McKENZIE

Global conflict and a gas-linked pricing system are driving up costs, despite a welcome shift towards renewables, explains MURAD QURESHI

From HMP Bronzefield, Palestine Action activist AMU GIB talks to Andrew Murray about why they are standing in local elections in north London, and the need to amplify voices that are often unheard

Welsh Labour leader ELUNED MORGAN explains how a vote for the party will deliver the progress and continuity the country needs on manufacturing, renewables, creative industries and more

JOANNE THOMAS welcomes the Employment Rights Act as an instrument for the much-needed revitalisation of trade union membership and activism

Studying the works of Karl Marx is a necessity if we are to fully comprehend the crises that surround us, says MATT WILLGRESS ahead of a Marx Matters event this weekend

The party’s internal enforcer built his sinister influence in the shadows – but nemesis now appears to be at hand, says ANDREW MURRAY

Britain’s housing crisis is no accident but a political choice, says CLAUDIA WEBBE

On May 4, the MML opens its doors to marchers and visitors alike, celebrating a living tradition of working-class struggle. MEIRIAN JUMP invites readers to come along and explore the building and its collections

JOANNE THOMAS argues that unions’ political voice remains vital to winning stronger rights and protections for working people

As STUC Congress moves to a biennial format, TOM MORRISON warns of concerns over shrinking lay power

On Workers Memorial Day, EDDIE DEMPSEY calls for immediate action on our railways to make the network safer for all

Usdaw is working hard alongside its members to smash down barrriers facing neurodivergent workers, writes Joanne Thomas 

Nearly a century ago several hundred young workers went on a ramble in a mighty show of solidarity for public access to land, says WILL from YCL Yorkshire & East Midlands

Karl Marx’s Capital remains one of the most influential works of social science ever written and is much more than merely an historical document, repaying study today, writes the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY and Workers’ School.

There is no justification for spending colossal amounts of money on so-called defence — sacrificing our education, health and transport while they’re at it, says BERT SCHOUWENBURG

On the eve of the Communist Party of Ireland’s 27th congress JIMMY CORCORAN reiterates the principles that guided James Connolly

GEOFFREY BELL looks at the curiously unsupportive stance of British progressives of the Easter Rising

JOHN REES replies to Claudia Webbe

Why a defeat of the miners still haunts Britain’s rulers, says PHIL KATZ

But that’s OK, says MATT KERR, as talking is what will help us get things done

Volunteers have helped revive a pool steeped in England’s rural past and now bursting with life. MARK SEDDON takes a look

JAMES CROSSLEY enjoys a new book uncovering the life and legacy of Dona Torr, whose intellectual leadership shaped a generation of Communist historians

On the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising, Ireland stands at another historic crossroads, writes DECLAN KEARNEY of Sinn Fein

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. TOM GALLAHUE and ROBERT POOLE from Educators for a United Ireland discuss the role played by the Irish diaspora, and why the Rising remains relevant today

A row over Trotskyist factions exposes competing visions of organisation inside Your Party and the wider left, argues NICK WRIGHT

RHUN AP IORWERTH outlines Plaid Cymru’s immediate and medium-term policy goals

ANDREA BRADLEY highlights how a City of Glasgow College health and safety dispute is the subject of an STUC Congress emergency motion

A growing coalition, Cymru Together, is challenging traditional politics – calling for practical plans that connect climate action with economic justice, writes BETHAN SAYED

ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT delve into the strange, active – and sometimes predatory – world of plants

While politicians fixate on defence budgets, the real answers lie in peace-building and economic justice, says ALAN SIMPSON

Speakers at the Morning Star’s recent conference highlighted historic and present-day activism while challenging far-right narratives and calling for solidarity with abuse survivors. LYNNE WALSH reports

CND and the Stop the War Coalition are calling for a mass protest this Saturday to end British complicity in illegal US strikes at RAF Fairford. SOPHIE BOLT explains

Labour government must urgently start to implement the policies on which it got elected, or it will face curtains, writes BRIAN LEISHMAN MP

Rising discontent is fuelling Reform UK’s advance ahead of crucial polls next month, but behind the insurgent branding lies an agenda of more cuts and austerity, says RUBY GIBSON

The labour movement must challenge the endless austerity narrative — and Unity Consulting will play its part to complement the work already being done by trade unions

A recent Union Street blaze showed firefighters at their best, but years of underfunding and job losses are stretching the service to its limits, writes JOHN McKENZIE

Dangerous conditions and political inaction still define the salmon industry, where BFAWU is pressing hard for change, says SARAH WOOLLEY

As the STUC gathers in an election year, the message to politicians is clear – continuing managed decline is unacceptable to Scotland’s workers, says ROZ FOYER

Concrete proposals are needed to bring about full integration of the rail system, with real protections for workers and an end to private operators, argues EDDIE DEMPSEY

Inspired by Ireland’s success, Equity urges all parties to support a basic income for artists that could unlock talent and boost the economy, says MARLENE CURRAN

A major new report highlights the the dire state of our prison system – and demands urgent action from government, explains PHIL FAIRLIE

Blending history, film and debate, the Bristol Radical History Festival will shine a light on class and resistance next weekend. LYNNE WALSH previews what’s on offer

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

Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon is just the latest of its recurring cycles of aggression in the region, says VIJAY PRASHAD

Outsourcing is at the heart of inequality. Only collective unity in the trade union movement can topple the Establishment’s obsession with it, says SAM GURNEY

DIANE ABBOTT looks at how a declining US has resorted to globalised violence to salvage any vestiges of political and economic hegemony

By Henry Fowler, co-founder of Strike Map

By signing strategic defence agreements with Ukraine, the German government has reached a new dimension of war involvement, says SEVIM DAGDELEN

The British outsourcing giant quietly deleted mention of training US immigration agents after killings in Minneapolis intensified scrutiny of its controversial contracts. SOLOMON HUGHES reports

Bezalel Smotrich’s measures to extend Israeli property law into the West Bank are a continuation of a decades-long project to dispossess Palestinians and preclude statehood, argues HUGH LANNING 

Your Party’s new membership rules pose a deeper question about socialist organisation: should a party lead the working class, or be led by it, says CLAUDIA WEBBE

As war engulfs Iran, many expected China to step in as a rising superpower. Instead, Beijing has chosen diplomacy over confrontation – revealing a very different vision of global leadership, argues JENNY CLEGG

Mass strikes over cost-of-living protections have escalated into a broader confrontation over democracy, after the government moved to impose a pay freeze by decree, writes KIVANC ELIACIK

Born from exclusion and resistance, black British art has carved out creative space to tell untold stories and challenge racism, says ROGER McKENZIE

Israel's brutality in Lebanon, combined with efforts to draw the Lebanese government into negotiations, are part of a strategy to delegitimise resistance to occupation and apartheid, argues RAMZY BAROUD

KEITH FLETT looks at the state’s efforts to limit protest rights from the 19th century to today’s repression of the Palestine movement

The government has few aces up its sleeve when it comes to managing popular anger, argues ANDREW MURRAY

Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports

The new BBC director-general now faces a test of public scrutiny, with his record at McKinsey and lack of newsroom experience under the spotlight, says STEPHEN ARNELL

From Vietnam to Iran, US leaders repeat a failed strategy of terror bombing – one that history shows cannot break a determined, resilient society, says DYLAN MURPHY

A landmark UN resolution led by Ghana declares the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity — but Western opposition and abstentions reveal enduring resistance to historical accountability, write ISAAC SANEY and JAMES COUNTS EARLY

The Morning Star publishes the speech by writer and editor JULIA BARD of the Jewish Socialists’ Group given at the paper’s annual conference at the weekend

The case of journalist Huseyin Dogru, who faces oppressive sanctions without courtroom scrutiny, challenges the EU’s claim to uphold due process and the rule of law, says DENNIS POOLE

Engels’ essay on our origins and distinctiveness built on Darwin’s own exploration of human evolution and has provided a framework for exploration and research which has stood the test of time, declares the Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School

Long before modern labour movements, England’s farmworkers fought back against their oppression – and for some, like Elizabeth Studham, the price was exile to Australia. MAT COWARD tells the story

A war sold as a quick victory has instead exposed the limits of US power, says KEVIN OVENDEN

ANSELM ELDERGILL looks at the legality of the wars in the Middle East and the means used to fight them. It is said that truth is the first casualty of war, so what is the truth with regard to the legality of America’s and Israel’s wars in Iran, Palestine and Lebanon?

As world leaders posture and local politicians bore, voters are left with a grim choice: despair, disengage — or start imagining something better, says MATT KERR