Opinion

Opinion: Liberals Are the Ones Hijacking BLM. Racial Justice Is Always Political

In identifying with the Black Lives Matter ‘moment’ in its most woolly and apolitical form, white people like Keir Starmer have claimed ownership of an anti-racist movement that began with Black people demanding justice. The movement is inherently political, and we must not let it be delegitimised or hollowed out, writes Wail Qasim.

Opinion: We Have Let Israel Dispossess, Displace and Ethnically Cleanse Palestinians for Decades

As Israel intensifies its campaign against Palestine by preparing to annex the West Bank, we must remember that its actions have not come out of nowhere, writes Malia Bouattia. Instead, they are the outcome of decades of inaction and complicity by foreign governments and companies.

Opinion: Britain’s Covid-19 Death Toll Goes Far Beyond Its Borders

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, criticism of the British government has focused on negligence within the UK’s own borders. But from Yemen to Iraq, Britain’s responsibility for the global death toll goes far further than is being reported, argues David Wearing.

Opinion: The Policing We Have Seen and Experienced at the Black Lives Matter Protests Is Racist

Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick recently claimed that it is no longer 'helpful or accurate' to describe the police as institutionally racist. As legal observers with lived experience of racism, we disagree, write Zehrah Hasan and Brenda Efurhievwe from Black Protest Legal Support.

Opinion: What Does Keir Starmer Actually Want?

Successful politicians need convictions, especially in moments of crisis. But whether it's on the economy, climate change, public services or racist policing, it’s unclear whether Keir Starmer actually has any, argues Aaron Bastani.

Opinion: Long-Bailey’s Sacking Shows How Antisemitism Has Been Dangerously Redefined

On Thursday afternoon Labour leader Keir Starmer sacked the lone left-winger in his shadow cabinet, accusing her of antisemitism. Barnaby Raine traces a recent history of how antisemitism has been redefined by liberals and the right.

Opinion: To Build the Movement in a Post-Corbyn Era, We Need to Build Democracy

Momentum’s National Coordinating Group election has attracted huge attention in recent weeks. Keir Milburn argues it's been vital for the recomposition of the UK left - and, most importantly, has highlighted the need for a new attitude towards democracy and elections.

Opinion: Yes, Zoomers Might Just Save the World

However bad a deal millennials might have had, it’s much worse for ‘generation Z’ or ‘zoomers’. But with climate breakdown and Black Lives Matter politicising this new generation, it increasingly feels like we’re on the brink of mass political upheaval, argues Aaron Bastani.

Opinion: Rave Culture Is Culture: Instead of Starting a Moral Panic, the Government Should Make Them Safe

As lockdown lifts, experiments have shown that raves can be run safely. Despite this, the government will inevitably allow them to happen last, due to raving posing a challenge to the Tories’ staunchly neoliberal economic and moral agendas, argues academic Marie-Avril Berthet.

Opinion: Filth: Single-Use Plastics Tell a Story of Capitalist Greed and Planetary Catastrophe

The debate over single-use plastics has shifted from corporate responsibility to individual responsibility. We must reverse this, writes Eleanor Penny. We need an urgent reckoning with polluter impunity and its political enablers - or else we face planetary catastrophe.

Opinion: I Work With People Experiencing Homelessness – for Them, the Crisis Is Worsening by the Day

Despite the government preening itself with manipulated statistics, homelessness in the UK is set to rise to historic levels. It is therefore vital that we oppose this unjust system, demanding that no one is left behind, argues shelter worker and activist Tom Zagoria.

Opinion: This Isn’t a ‘Culture War’ – It’s a Battle Over the Terms of Solidarity

There are some on the left who say we shouldn’t get distracted by the ‘culture war’, and should keep our focus on the ‘real issues’. But this distinction is often a false one, and the left needs to figure out how to fight the culture war on its own terms, argues David Wearing.

Opinion: To Defeat Coronavirus Disaster Capitalism, We Need a Socialist Shock Doctrine

Under the cover of civil unrest and a global pandemic, the Conservative government is already introducing a disaster capitalist privatisation agenda. The left must think bigger and bolder to stop this destructive trend, argues Joe Duffy.

Opinion: Police Abolitionists Aren’t ‘Too Radical’ – They’ve Been Making Gains for Decades

Pundits have been taking it upon themselves to tell the Black Lives Matter movement that the demand to abolish the police is the wrong one. Sarah Jaffe argues abolitionism has been making gains for decades - and now it’s breaking through.

Opinion: Nationalisation of Airlines Could Lead to Political-economic Transformation – If the Left Can Get Organised

In response to Covid-19, an increasing number of airlines are being nationalised with a view to re-privatising them as soon as the pandemic is over. But if the left can get organised and put pressure on these companies, argues Grace Blakeley, the recovery from coronavirus could also be a time of working class empowerment.