Articles

Report: There Were Too Few Firefighters Working in London on Almost 100 Occasions in a Year, FOI Data Shows

Exclusive: There were too few firefighters on shift in London on almost 100 separate occasions in the space of a year, according to data obtained by freedom of information request. James Walker reports on fears about the service's capacity, as it prepares for a new wave of cuts.

Opinion: We Must Not Let the Government Blame Students for a Second Wave

It isn't safe for students to return to university campuses, and letting them do so gives the government somebody else to blame if Covid cases rise again. Dana Mills argues that lecturers must heed the call of unions and learn from the example of the United States, and insist that teaching happens online.

Report: The Police Are Using Coronavirus to Crack Down on Protest

Police are forcing organisers to cancel demonstrations or face arrest and a £10,000 fine under new Covid laws. Activists say 'unworkable restrictions' and harsh sanctions pose an escalating threat to the right to protest. Rivkah Brown reports.

Report: How We Won: The Activists and Lawyers Who Stopped Asylum Seekers Being Evicted in Glasgow

A coalition of activists and lawyers took on the Tories' anti-immigrant agenda in Glasgow, using direct action and legal challenges to stop a government-contracted company making hundreds of vulnerable people street homeless. Lauren Gilmour reports.

Analysis: The Road to Moria: How Greece’s Refugee Disaster Became Business As Usual

The fires that destroyed a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos and displaced 13,000 people have prompted international concern about the treatment of migrants at Europe's borders. Yet in Greece, the horrors of Moria are filtered through a terrifying banality which makes them seem like business as usual, explains Yannis-Orestis Papadimitriou.

Eamon Ryan, leader of the Irish Green party

Opinion: Greenwashing the Establishment: How the Irish Greens Sold Out Environmentalists and the Working Class

The Irish Greens are currently in coalition with the two parties that have dominated Irish politics for almost a century, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. By propping up the faltering establishment at this critical juncture of the climate crisis, the Greens have given up a historic opportunity to break the cycle of conservative rule and agitate for radical change.

Opinion: The Government Scrimped on School Safety. Now Students and Staff Are Paying the Price

Just over a week since schools reopened, coronavirus outbreaks are forcing hundreds of pupils across the UK back home. Primary teacher and trade unionist James McAsh reports on an avoidable crisis.

Opinion: Reopening Universities Isn’t Just a Threat to Staff and Students – It’s a Threat to Communities Too

Reopening universities in the middle of a pandemic is a threat to the safety of staff and students. In cities like Coventry, already hit badly by Covid-19, there’s also a huge risk to the local community, writes Sarah Kraus.

Opinion: Boris Johnson Wants to Blame Young People for Coronavirus. He Has Nobody to Blame but Himself

The government has settled on a scapegoat for the recent spike in Covid-19 cases: young people. Yet from rushing children back to school to breaking their own rules with impunity, it's clear who's really at fault, writes Liam Young.

Opinion: Keir Starmer’s Strategy is Revealing His Politics – and They Aren’t Progressive

The first question we need to ask of any leading Labour figure is this: are their politics managerial, or are they transformative? Although many say Starmer’s politics are yet to be defined - or are simply ‘non-ideological’ - his strategy has already told us otherwise, argues David Wearing.

Opinion: David Graeber Was Right to Recognise the Importance of the Kurdish Struggle

David Graeber was an early and committed supporter of the Kurdish freedom movement. We can remember him the way he remembered the people of Rojava who gave their lives in the fight against Isis, writes Giran Ozcan - by living out our ideas in practice and making a commitment to solidarity that goes beyond words.

Black Britannia: The Legendary Congress That Radicalised a Generation

In 1967, a radical congress brought together activists, artists and academics from around the world to discuss the most pressing issues of the day. In the final instalment of Black Britannia, Bryan Knight looks at the lasting impact that headlining speaker, American Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael, had on British Black radicalism.

Opinion: Boris Johnson’s Plan to Ditch the Withdrawal Agreement Shows His Mandate is Built on Lies

Boris Johnson won the 2019 election having secured, in his words, an ‘excellent’ withdrawal agreement for the UK. If he now undermines this agreement - potentially in favour of a no deal Brexit - his mandate will be built on lies, argues Aaron Bastani.

Report: Italy’s Migrants Are Being Attacked From Left and Right. They Aren’t Going to Take It Lying Down

As regional elections approach later this month, and with a second wave of coronavirus expected, the Italian far right and centre are engaged in a race to the bottom on immigration. Alice Figes looks at the latest chapter in Italy's long history of xenophobia.

Opinion: Labour’s New Focus on ‘Competence’ Will Find Its Limits Once the Economic Downturn Hits

Against the initial wave of the pandemic, Keir Starmer has capitalised on popular frustration with the Tories' handling of the public health crisis. Yet as the national conversation pivots to the economic downturn, the Labour leader will struggle without economic propositions of his own, writes Oliver Eagleton.

Obituary: An Everyday Anarchist: David Graeber, 1961-2020

David Graeber - anthropologist, author, anarchist and friend to many - died this week in Venice aged 59. A lifelong fighter for social justice, his ultimate achievement will be in the “everyday communist society” we create, writes Paul Mason.

Opinion: The Cosmic Right Is on the Rise in the UK. The Left Must Fight It With Reason

QAnon and the 'cosmic right' are gaining traction in the UK by re-enchanting a mundane world and offering easy solutions to complex problems. Political economist Keir Milburn argues that the left should use the best weapon in its armoury to fight this worrying trend: reason.

Obituary: The Opposite of a Cynic: David Graeber, 1961-2020

Novara Media would likely not exist without anthropologist and activist David Graeber, who died on Wednesday. He helped give us the confidence to start out, and the conviction that left media – and especially left media that is able to think for itself – actually matters, writes James Butler.