From London’s holly-sellers to Engels’s flaming Christmas centrepiece, the plum pudding was more than festive fare in Victorian Britain, says KEITH FLETT
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There can be no turning back on anti-racist principles
We must defend the fair and reasonable policies on migration Labour has stood for in recent years, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Anti-racism campaigners attend a vigil outside the Home Office in Westminster, London, for the 39 people found dead inside a lorry in Essex, in October 2019
Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
From a lockdown digital project to a vital tool for class solidarity, ROBERT POOLE and HENRY FOWLER reflect on half-a-decade of struggle
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
THE devastating coronavirus crisis here in Britain and across Europe has sparked increasing examples of racism and xenophobia towards Chinese and other Asian communities. Sadly this has included violent attacks on our streets.
On the international stage, this is mirrored by a refusal to learn from China, Vietnam and other Asian countries in terms of their approach to helping contain the virus and most obviously by President Trump’s stubborn insistence on referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” in press conferences that are televised all around the world.
The left and labour movement need to be absolutely clear that the global far-right’s increasing use of anti-Chinese and anti-migrant rhetoric is a classic case of divide and rule, aimed at turning workers against each other.
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DIANE ABBOTT warns that Shabana Mahmood’s draconian asylum proposals fuel racist scapegoating and risk demoralising Labour’s base – potentially paving the way for Farage to No 10
ROZ FOYER explains the significance and tradition of today’s St Andrew’s Day March and Rally
DIANE ABBOTT explodes the anti-migrant myths perpetrated by cynical politicians and an irresponsible mass media
As anti-immigration rhetoric gains mainstream acceptance, trade unions must unite workers across backgrounds while challenging the false narrative that blames migrants for economic hardship, argues TONY CONWAY