Charles Lubselski pays tribute to a lifelong communist and supporter of the Daily Worker and Morning Star
Ten days after right-wing destabilisation attempts, Mexico’s leadership has emerged strengthened, securing historic labour and wage agreements, while opposition-backed protests have crumbled under scrutiny, says DAVID RABY
Fuelled by economic abandonment and a collapsing faith in politics, Farage’s party is transforming grievance into momentum north of the border, warns COLL McCAIL
A searing scrutiny hearing has uncovered thousands of undelivered appointments, vanishing data and a system in chaos – galvanising councillors, patients and activists to demand urgent reform and an NHS dentist for all, writes SIMON BRIGNELL
ARTICULATED in the vocabulary of economics rather than the standard lexicon of political soundbites, young rising star of the labour movement Grace Blakeley is proving to be a formidable challenger to the established commentariat of broadcast media, with memorable television appearances including explaining the economics of democratic socialism to a bemused Andrew Neil on his own BBC show and debunking former Tory MP Michael Portillo’s attempts to justify a decade of austerity.
The Labour Party’s proposals to move in the direction of democratic socialism have provoked alarm from right-leaning media, but much of the party’s manifesto is modelled on the orthodox economics of John Maynard Keynes, which formed a basis of the 1945-1979 post-war consensus.
During this period, Conservative governments retained some Labour policies — including the nationalisation of key industries plus the creation of a broad welfare state and National Health Service, following the landslide victory for Labour’s Clement Attlee in 1945.
