Washington’s inability to subjugate Iran is an example of how it is trying to preserve a regional order that no longer exists, argues RAMZY BAROUD
Special Branch spied on GLC’s ‘cop watch’ initiative
In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account
POLICING THE POLICE: GLC leader Ken Livingstone (centre), with committee chairman John McDonnell (l) - Finance and General Purposes - and Michael Ward (r), Industry and Employment, at County Hall, London, in January 1983
US financial instability is exposing the limits of a dollar-dominated global economy — and giving the Global South a historic chance to build an alternative, says MURAD QURESHI
DOUG NICHOLLS says the parasitic finance markets must be challenged or another British government could be toppled
The late country singer’s Imagination Library has put hundreds of millions of books into children’s hands. We should build on that legacy by defending the libraries at the heart of our communities, says BRENDA AITCHISON
Deprivation is a fundamental factor in criminal behaviour that must be addressed but, KENNY MacASKILL argues, there needs to a major rethink in sentencing to tackle overcrowding
MML director MEIRIAN JUMP outlines the recently refreshed library’s busy autumn schedule that ranges from book sales, archival exploration, community work with online education and the ever popular site tours
TONY BURKE surveys the shifting political landscape and the challenges Labour needs to address if it is to prevail in the 2028 federal elections
SPECIAL BRANCH spied on elected members of the Labour-controlled General London Council (GLC) in the 1980s because of their efforts to improve police accountability, an extraordinary declassified report has revealed.
The 47-page police report from 1983 exposes a Special Branch operation targeting a GLC initiative to informally scrutinise the work of the Metropolitan Police.
The document, which has only come to light recently through the work of the ongoing undercover policing inquiry, contains extensive personal and financial information on dozens of individuals and justice and defence groups in London.
Among those targeted are Ken Livingstone, the then-leader of the GLC and future London mayor, and John McDonnell MP, who are described as “extremists.”
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