Gloucestershire’s phlebotomists have brought their historic strike to a close after almost a year of action, leaving a legacy of determination – and a clear lesson about the power of solidarity in the face of anti-union laws and austerity, says FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT
WE HADN’T long won the second world war, with our Soviet allies suffering 27 million dead, when in 1946 Winston Churchill made his “Iron Curtain” speech to launch the Cold War.
On both sides of the Atlantic red-baiting became an industry, and communists were persecuted everywhere from Hollywood to the Boy Scouts of Britain.
Paul Garland was a Queen’s Scout from Bristol. He was also a member of the Young Communist League (YCL). He could see no reason not to be a loyal member of both youth organisations.
The daughter of a legendary blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter has spoken out against the reactionary move, says MIKE SCHNEIDER
Our charter’s demands for fair pay, affordable housing and environmental security will recruit working-class youth into the political struggle for socialism, emulating the success of the Women’s Charter, writes YCL general secretary GEORGINA ANDREWS
KEITH FLETT traces how the ‘world’s most successful political party’ has imploded since Thatcher’s fall, from nine leaders in 30 years to losing all 16 English councils, with Reform UK symbolically capturing Peel’s birthplace, Tamworth — but the beast is not dead yet



