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
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Today’s Labour Party reflects Keir Hardie’s vision for change
RICHARD BURGON considers the enduring relevance of the Labour Party’s founder and first leader
As the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish civil war is marked, Teesside campaigners will gather to remember the local men and women who stood against fascism, explains TONY FOX
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
Washington’s inability to subjugate Iran is an example of how it is trying to preserve a regional order that no longer exists, argues RAMZY BAROUD
US financial instability is exposing the limits of a dollar-dominated global economy — and giving the Global South a historic chance to build an alternative, says MURAD QURESHI
Deprivation is a fundamental factor in criminal behaviour that must be addressed but, KENNY MacASKILL argues, there needs to a major rethink in sentencing to tackle overcrowding
RECENTLY reading Bob Holman’s excellent biography Keir Hardie – Labour’s Greatest Hero? has caused me to reflect upon how valuable the life, politics and ideas of the Labour Party’s founder and first leader can be as a tool for socialist political education and a spur to action for all our party’s members in the situation we face in 2018.
Hardie was in many ways ahead of his time — as an internationalist and opponent of war and imperialism, as a voice for the working class in its broadest sense, as a supporter of women’s rights and as someone who spoke out against the dangers that unbridled capitalism poses to the environment.
Reflecting upon the full breadth of Hardie’s politics helps us to understand what the Labour Party was founded for, what it is for today and what it should do. It should form a key part of political education in branches across the country.
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