Novara Live: White Riot
Ash Sarkar and Aaron Bastani discuss the far-right’s commitment to restoring law and order by punching cops. Plus Shon Faye on why Britain’s political class are so keen to make the lives of transgender people miserable.
Tag: coronavirus
Opinion: To Defeat Coronavirus Disaster Capitalism, We Need a Socialist Shock Doctrine
Joe Duffy
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.
Novara Live: The Phoney (Culture) War
BLM protestors want racial justice. The establishment want to debate 70s sitcoms. Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani discuss the phoney (culture) war. Plus, Miatta Fahnbulleh on the UK’s record-breaking recession.
Opinion: Nationalisation of Airlines Could Lead to Political-economic Transformation – If the Left Can Get Organised
Grace Blakeley
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.
Opinion: Our Capitalist Society Has Always Devalued Disabled People. Coronavirus Has Made This Clear
Ellen Clifford
The last decade of austerity and welfare reform has been informed by an ideology that devalues disabled people on the basis of their perceived inability to produce profit. Covid-19 has brought that mindset out into the open, writes author and activist Ellen Clifford.
Analysis: Beyond Bernie: Down-Ballot Races to Watch in June and July
Freddie Stuart and Aaron White
With nationwide protests showing little sign of relenting, the next major slate of elections will indicate whether mass mobilisations will significantly alter the composition of the Democratic party. Freddie Stuart and Aaron White look at the candidates and races to watch in the second instalment of our series on the US 2020 elections.
Long Read: Get Angry Then Get Free: The Political Necessity of Rioting in Dismantling the System
Joshua Virasami
As protestors rise up across the world following the murder of George Floyd, it's vital we see rioting as a legitimate form of protest in the struggle for freedom within racial capitalism, writes Black Lives Matter activist Joshua Virasami in an in-depth long read.
Novara Live: Incompetence UNMASKED
The Tories have announced masks will now be mandatory on public transport. What took so long? Plus, Howard Beckett on British Airways vs Unite, Labour’s shift on welfare, and Juliet Jacques on the media’s coverage of trans rights.
Opinion: Filth: Disease, Drugs or Looting – Brutal Policing is Always Framed As Protecting ‘the Public’ From Infection
Eleanor Penny
Black Lives Matter protests are being framed as a public health threat. In the long and racist history of policing, justifying state brutality with a claim to be protecting ‘the public’ from contagion - by disease, drugs, or an epidemic of looting - is nothing new, writes Eleanor Penny.
The Burner: The Burner Episode #246: the Writing on the Wall
After ten weeks of lockdown, James Butler asks: what have we learned? Plus, a little announcement on the future of this show.
The Burner: The Burner #245: Two Pandemics
Ash Sarkar goes to the Black Lives Matter protest in London, and talks to the protestors on the new front line of antiracist struggle in the UK.
Opinion: Global South Economies Like Zambia’s Are Being Battered by Coronavirus. We Must Write-Off Debt Now
Grace Blakeley
With coronavirus battering emerging market economies, the fate of millions of the world's poorest people hinges on a debt write-off for the global South. This must be one of the central demands of socialists internationally as the pandemic comes to an end, writes Grace Blakeley.
Analysis: Beyond Bernie: Amidst National Unrest, Can Progressive Candidates Salvage the Democratic Party?
Freddie Stuart and Aaron White
With Bernie Sanders out of the presidential race and the country exploding into civil unrest, can progressive candidates respond to the revolutionary fervour of the American people? Freddie Stuart and Aaron White take a look in the first instalment of our series on the US 2020 elections.
The Burner: The Burner Episode #244: Who Counts?
As the UK death toll passes 50,000 and Black Lives Matter protests continue in the US, James Butler asks: who gets to matter in politics?
Opinion: To Fight the Coming Storm, the Left Needs to Learn From the Anti-Austerity Movement
Michael Chessum
The next few years are likely to see the biggest crisis of capitalism, and the biggest assault on our rights and living standards, in any of our lifetimes. What can the British left learn from the anti-austerity movement about what the fightback should look like?
Opinion: The Pandemic is Changing How It Feels to Be Free
Keir Milburn
Coronavirus is putting the right's individualistic idea of freedom under immense strain. It is this pressure, argues Keir Milburn, that offers hope for the typically right-leaning older generation to embrace a more progressive, solidaristic kind of politics.
The Burner: The Burner Episode #243: Ease Off, Second Wave + Talking Teachers
James Butler asks what the government ease-off in regulations is really about – should we expect a second wave? Plus, as teachers are pressed back to work, we hear from one trade unionist about what’s really going on in schools.
Opinion: Once Again, the Government is Using Disadvantaged Children to Pursue Harmful Policies
Chloe Tomlinson
Schools are set to reopen tomorrow, with the government arguing we must make sure “the poorest and most disadvantaged pupils don’t fall behind”. Chloe Tomlinson suggests ministers are employing a familiar strategy: crying ‘think of the children’ in order to get their own way.