TUC president and POA leader STEVE GILLAN speaks to Ben Chacko on the eve of Congress 2026
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After conference the Tory war on history will intensify
Forget the ‘woke’ debate — Boris Johnson pointedly ignoring black history is an attempt to write minorities out of the future as well as the past, argues KEITH FLETT
(left to right) Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab, Health Secretary Sajid Javid, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, Cop26 President Alok Sharma, and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay, await Prime Minister Boris Johnson's keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester
DOUG NICHOLLS welcomes a turning point at this year’s Congress, where many motions call for a co-ordinated plan to revive British industry, a perspective outlined in his new book
HOPE VIRGO of campaign Dump the Scales warns MPs voting today they should be alert to the threat legalised assisted death poses to people with eating disorders
The Together Alliance is hosting two summits, North and South, to build power and plan action against the scourge of racism peddled by the right. DANIEL KEBEDE urges mass participation
The drift toward militarisation in Europe is not inevitable, left-wing and peace movements can preserve sovereignty and prevent war, says DÁIRE HUGHES MP
Whatever differences exist among international sympathisers of the Bolivarian revolution about its current trajectory, they should unite against the imperialist power that is the source of an enforced retreat, argues ROGER D HARRIS
Trade unions need to step up and force a turn in the policies of the labour movement to effectively confront the far-right threat, argues NICK WRIGHT
AS usual, while the Tory conference in Manchester had a backdrop of very serious issues for working people, it wasn’t itself a serious occasion. It was essentially a large gathering of lobbyists, looking for sinecures and contracts.
While attacks on the “woke” peppered the conference, this too has become a joke term, used to signify anything Tories don’t like, which is most things apart from profit and exploitation.
Boris Johnson’s speech on the last day was no exception, best characterised as not very good light entertainment, containing lines like “Hereward the Woke.”
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