SOLOMON HUGHES recommends Sunjeev Sahota’s recent novel set in a trade union election campaign for its fresh approach to what unites and divides workers, but wishes the union backdrop was truer to life
IT IS understandable that, on International Women’s Day this year, organisations will focus on the issue of the women’s franchise.
The centenary of the vote for women is being celebrated and, as many people point out, it was only a partial franchise.
It wasn’t until 1922 in the Republic of Ireland and 1928 in the UK that the universal franchise was introduced for all women over the age of 21. All this is becoming common knowledge as women take more interest in their own hidden history, but how women benefited from voting is something that also needs to become more widely known.
As peers prepare to debate reform of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi leads a bid to end the criminalisation of women who end pregnancies at home. LYNNE WALSH reports
A new group within the NEU is preparing the labour movement for a conversation on Irish unity by arguing that true liberation must be rooted in working-class solidarity and anti-sectarianism, writes ROBERT POOLE
The independent TD’s campaign has put important issues like Irish reunification and military neutrality at the heart of the political conversation, argues SEAN MacBRADAIGH
Peaceful protesters are facing increasingly authoritarian clampdowns, including two recent arrests for putting a sticker on a Barclays ATM. LYNDA WALKER reports



