Articles

State Neglect and Police Violence: the Forgotten Refugee Crisis in Calais and Dunkirk
In northern France hundreds of refugees are being neglected by the state, abused by the police and exploited by smugglers. With large charities refusing to get involved and journalists staying away, grassroots groups are still trying to plug the aid gap. But volunteers say there is only so much they can do without adequate resources – and when the only real solutions are political.
Movin’ On Up: It’s Time to Break Neoliberalism’s Share-Owning Oligarchy
There were record dividends paid to UK company shareholders this week, not that the vast majority of people working for those companies would know it given that wages are flatlining or declining. James Meadway explains how Labour would go about transferring wealth and control from owners to workers.
If Notre Dame is a Tragedy, Then What is the Future We Are Creating?
This week the news has been dominated by two stories: the Notre Dame fire, and Extinction Rebellion’s ongoing protest at government inaction on climate change. Aaron Bastani argues the media response to these events prompts important questions around what it is that constitutes a tragedy.
A Bolt From the Blue: What Scrapping Section 21 Would Mean for Renters
With the government's announcement that it will consult on the abolition of section 21 - a much maligned housing law introduced by Thatcher - an anonymous lawyer looks at what getting rid of it would mean for renters.
Long Snake Moan: How Capitalism’s Productivity Failure Is Driving Debt and Speculation
New research suggests the digital economy isn't providing many solutions to capitalism's productivity crisis. Increasingly, large companies are turning to subscriptions and data for profit, hoarding what they can along the way.
Julian Assange and the Problem of ‘Solidarity’
Opinions on Julian Assange tend to be sharply polarised: he is either an abuser undeserving of public support against extradition to the US or a champion for transparency unjustly persecuted by the American empire. Ash Sarkar makes the case for a more nuanced response.
You’ll Never Walk Alone: Remembering Hillsborough 30 Years On
Today marks the 30-year anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster - a crush during a football match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium that killed 96 Liverpool fans. Jess Thorne reflects on the police management, media cover-up and political context of what remains the worst disaster in British sporting history.
The UK Government Risks Facilitating a Porn Monopoly

The government’s new Digital Economy Act means that adult content sites will have to install age verification software in a move which risks pricing independent sex workers out of the internet and onto the street.
Fighting for the Future: How the Instagram Generation Are Renewing the UK Climate Movement
Following protests in February and March which saw tens of thousands of young people walk out of classrooms and into the streets, today schools students up and down the country will again go on strike in the face of climate inaction. Novara Media reporters take a look at who's involved, how they're organising and where they're headed.
Britain’s High Streets Can Be Revived – But Only With 21st Century Socialism
In the latest blow to British retail after a decade of high street closures, this week department store Debenhams went into administration. Aaron Bastani argues our high streets can be revived - but this will require 21st century socialism.
Generation Climate: Why Young Labour Must Support Every Youth Strike
Young Labour must seize the opportunity to tap into their vast but largely inactive membership, galvanising a new generation of climate activists and bridging the gap between traditional environmentalism and the labour movement in the process, write Chris Saltmarsh and Troy Hawkins.
No Alarms and No Surprises? What Lyft’s Slump Tells Us About Modern Capitalism
In this week's column, John McDonnell's former advisor, James Meadway, scratches the surface of the current tech bubble. To help us make sense of it all, he takes us through the weird economics of networks and the even weirder economics of the last ten years.
Netanyahu’s Electoral Alliance With the Far Right is Frightening, But It’s Nothing Radically New
Back in February, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was forming an electoral alliance with the nation's foremost fascist party Otzma Yehudit. Douglas Gerrard argues that while this alliance is certainly bleak, there’s much Western journalists discussing these elections are missing.
On Foreign Policy, the Independent Group Will Offer Nothing But the Elite Consensus
Last week the leading opposition parties issued a joint demand for the suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the context of the war in Yemen. The absence of the Independent Group from the list of signatories, however, signals that the self-styled party of ‘change’ will offer nothing but conformity to the status quo on foreign policy, argues David Wearing.
4 Reasons to Support Kurdish Hunger Strikers
Since November 2018, thousands of Kurdish people across the world have joined an indefinite hunger strike to demand an end to the isolation of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Elif Sarican and Iida Käyhkö lay out the reasons for supporting them.  
How the Gilets Jaunes Launched a Movement Against Police Violence
Flashballs and teargas grenades have left hundreds of French protesters with severe injuries, but resistance to state-sanctioned violence is building by the day.
Ten Years Since the Death of Ian Tomlinson, the Police Have Done Nothing to Regain Public Trust
Ten years ago today during the G20 protests in London, newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson died after being violently assaulted by a Metropolitan police officer. Sam Walton, who was at the protests, reflects on the events around Tomlinson’s death and argues that when it comes to the police’s priorities, maintaining public order still trumps trust and justice.
“We Refuse to Be Intimidated by Our University”: the King’s College Activists Fighting Back Against Racial Profiling
Earlier this month, King's College London was accused of banning a number of student activists from campus for posing a “security risk” during a visit from the Queen and Duchess of Cambridge. Writing anonymously, some of the students in question argue that what happened to them is part of a far bigger picture.