Analysis: The UK Has Its Own Mass Incarceration Crisis
by Ell Folan
The UK now spends £5bn a year on prisons, more than any other European country besides Russia, writes Ell Folan.
Tag: Margaret thatcher
Feature: How Healthcare Went From State Responsibility to Workplace ‘Perk’
by Moya Lothian-McLean
As the welfare state recedes, employers are increasingly offering healthcare and income protection as workplace ‘benefits’. Moya Lothian-Mclean asks, what does this mean for worker power?
Opinion: Salman Rushdie Was Once on the Left. What Happened?
by Alfie Steer
The author, currently in hospital following a knife attack in the US, has done a 180 over the course of his career. Alfie Steer examines why.
Analysis: Were the 70s Really That Great?
by Juliet Jacques
From the union boom to radical TV, the left tends to see the 70s through rose-tinted glasses. We should beware nostalgia, writes Juliet Jacques.
Opinion: Boris Johnson Could Have Been Another Thatcher
by Aaron Bastani
Johnson’s stunning election win in 2019 should have meant he was able to oversee a sea-change in British politics. In less than three years he threw it all away, argues Aaron Bastani.
Analysis: The Media Needs More Labour Correspondents
by Sam Bright
Mick Lynch has badly exposed the lack of specialist labour reporters in mainstream media. But it wasn’t always like this, Sam Bright writes.
Analysis: Right to Buy 2.0 is an Unmitigated Disaster
by Ell Folan
Boris Johnson’s bright idea for winning back young voters is only going to deepen their misery, writes Ell Folan.
Opinion: Molly-Mae Hague Just Exposed Influencer Culture for the Thatcherite Poison It Is
by Anna Cafolla
For Gen Z, it’s easier to believe the myth of meritocracy pedalled by influencers - we can all make it to the top because we have ‘the same hours in a day as Beyonce' - than to accept the truth of a system stacked against us, writes Anna Cafolla.
Analysis: The Polls Look Terminal for Boris Johnson
by Ell Folan
Following accusations of a Downing Street Christmas party during the last winter lockdown, the Conservative party and its leader have plunged in the polls. Ell Folan asks whether either will survive.
Opinion: Austerity May Be Over, but the Tories Still Aren’t Spending Enough
by James Meadway
With this year's budget, the Tories may have ended austerity, but the spending increases they are proposing aren't nearly enough to undo the damage they have wrought through a decade of brutal cuts.
Opinion: The Supply Chain Crisis Is Exposing Tory Divisions
by James Meadway
Recent public spats over how to manage the ongoing supply chain crisis speak to far deeper ideological conflicts within the Tory government, argues James Meadway.
Opinion: The North Has Always Been at the Cutting Edge of Culture
by Kojo Koram
Forget the stereotypes, red wall voters aren’t inherently culturally conservative. The north has always pioneered culture.
Opinion: Back on the Hard Road: How Stuart Hall Can Help Us Navigate Our Moment
by David Wearing
The British left is still reeling and disoriented from the election defeat of December 2019. But by comparing our current moment to Stuart Hall’s analysis of the long 1980s, we can learn some important lessons, writes David Wearing.
Opinion: The Tories’ Levelling Up Agenda is Just Thatcherism for Towns
by Joe Duffy
A new report by a rightwing thinktank on "unleashing investment" in the north of England provides a grim insight into how the government may convert its Brexit majority into an even more sinister political settlement under the guise of concern for regional equality, writes Joe Duffy.
Opinion: Electability Matters, but Its Deployment Is Political
by Aaron Bastani
There's no denying that electability is crucial to a party's viability, but don’t be fooled when it’s used to avoid talking about the issues that matter, argues Aaron Bastani.
How the Long, Slow Death of Neoliberalism Sent the Conservative Party Into Crisis
by Eleanor Penny
Long read: In a matter of weeks the Tories have lost their flimsy grip on parliament, a historic six votes, any remaining confidence of EU negotiators and the plot entirely. But while it's difficult to look beyond Boris, Eleanor Penny argues the problem has far deeper roots.