ALEX HALL interviews PAUL HOLDEN, whose bombshell book uses leaked documents to expose how the Starmer faction used systematic dishonesty to seize power and reopen the door to the corrupting ecosystem of corporate lobbying and sleaze
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Union building under Labour
As the prospect of a Labour government becomes increasingly likely, MARTIN SMITH looks at the lessons for unions from the 1997-2010 era and focuses on what our core goals should be today
Labour leader Keir Starmer speaking at the TUC congress in London, September 14, 2021
The recent calls to strip Michelle Mone of her peerage after she was caught scamming the public for £122 million should reinvigorate the longstanding progressive demand to completely abolish the entire undemocratic, corrupt relic, writes ELLIOT TONG
As gold hits $4,000 per ounce, soaring from only $250 back in 2001, the US national debt has reached $37 trillion — it’s all about to come crashing down, warns JOHN ELLISON, which our leaders would have known had they only studied Marx’s magnum opus Capital
Now at 115,000 members and in some polls level with Labour in terms of public support, CHRIS JARVIS looks at the factors behind the rapid rise of the Greens, internal and external
Witnessing a war of words at a meeting on tackling militarism at The World Transformed, BEN COWLES spoke to a union rep who is organising against war from inside the arms industry itself, to hear about worker-led solutions to ending weapons production
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ, ROGER D HARRIS and JOHN PERRY contrast Trump’s warships and F-35 fighters threatening Venezuela with the $20bn bailout for Milei’s collapsed economy, all enabled by a highly ideological IMF
ON CURRENT trends and despite recent turmoil, pollsters are telling us that 2024 seems on course to produce a Labour-led government (at least).
The Tory Party seems likely to be punished for its eugenics and corruption during Covid, the collapse of public services and the economic incompetence of the Liz Truss period.
Issues over how best to continue union-building work in a climate that unions have not had to navigate for 14 years will now come to the fore for many organisations.
We are in an urgent debate over how best unions can avoid the expectation of blank cheque loyalty on every issue that will arise from the party, especially when the shine wears off — and how in the meantime unions resist being policed by Labour. Simply put, will unions choose the role of critical ally or uncritical cheerleader? And what might that look like in 2024 compared to 1997?
A bit of 1997-era history is worthwhile. In 1997 we could have done anything. New Labour was elected with a majority of 179 on a wave of anti-Tory sentiment after 18 years in opposition.
For much of that time, trade unions had adopted the “dented shield” approach, retreating from conflict with employers, and stepping back from industrial campaigning as we waited for a Labour government to arrive and get us off life support.
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