FRAN HEATHCOTE believes that while the the Chancellor outlined some positive steps, the government does not appreciate the scale of the cost-of-living crisis affecting working-class people, whose lives are blighted by endemic low pay
Don’t give up the struggle
Hope fades when change seems impossible. But we’re on a rollercoaster of change – and Labour members are needed in the fight, says North of Tyne Mayor JAMIE DRISCOLL
Supporters in the crowd as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at an event in Harrow on the General Election campaign trail, in June 2017
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pouring €11.5bn into the Kiev swamp, blocking Trump’s peace plan, and pushing Nato right up to Russia’s borders – no matter if it costs hundreds of thousands of lives, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
The unifying victory of Irish progressive forces in the presidential campaign should be a salutary lesson to the left in this country, argues MARY GRIFFITHS CLARKE
Martin Taylor, the hedge-fund multimillionaire who has poured millions into pushing Labour rightwards, helped finance Lucy Powell’s supposedly dissenting campaign — suggesting her victory was not the ‘soft-left’ rebellion some have claimed, says SOLOMON HUGHES
A November 15 protest in Mexico – driven by a right-wing social-media operation – has been miscast as a mass uprising against President Sheinbaum. In reality, the march was small, elite-backed and part of a wider attempt to sow unrest, argues DAVID RABY
TAKE yourself back to May 2017, and a moment of hope we shared. In the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing, the memorial crowd spontaneously sang Don’t Look Back in Anger.
Theresa May’s snap election had looked a certain bet. Then the Labour manifesto was launched. Bold social democratic policies captured the imagination: public ownership of rail, mail, water and energy. Strong on workers’ rights and reversing austerity. From 20 points behind, we were closing rapidly. Then came the attack on May 22, a suicide bomber murdered 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert, 1,017 others were injured.
Political orthodoxy predicted a “rally round the flag” effect would consolidate the Tory vote and halt Labour’s progress. But Labour defied orthodoxy, and in the spirit of that Manchester crowd, said if you want a peaceful Britain, you have to work for a peaceful world. With 41 per cent of the vote, Labour came close. But not close enough.
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We’ll be developing a people’s manifesto for the 2026 local elections. We’ll network, learn, inspire and support each other and chart a future path for socialist politics, writes JAMIE DRISCOLL
Aslef general secretary MICK WHELAN speaks to Ben Chacko about rail renationalisation, the Employment Rights Bill and why we shouldn’t write off this Labour government