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.
Tag: new labour
Opinion: Now Could Be Keir Starmer’s Moment If Only He’d Back the Unions
by Tom Peters
Russia-schmoozing Tories and a cost of living crisis have presented the Labour leader with yet another open goal. The problem is, he’s too busy attacking workers to take it, writes Tom Peters.
Opinion: Like It or Not, New Labour Offers Important Lessons for Saving the NHS
by Ell Folan
Though rightly overshadowed by the Iraq War, the Blair government increased NHS spending by 56% and cut waiting times by 9 weeks. We must not be too averse to learning from this achievement, writes Ell Folan - our dying health service depends on it.
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.
Analysis: Neoliberalism is Dead – and Something Even Worse is Taking Its Place
by James Meadway
The Tories may have ditched austerity, but that doesn’t mean we’ve anything to celebrate, writes James Meadway.
Opinion: If Jews Don’t Count As an Ethnic Minority, It’s Because We Haven’t Always Wanted To
by Joseph Finlay
Only recently has ethnic minority status become covetable. British Jews have spent much of our history avoiding it, writes Jewish historian Joseph Finlay.
Opinion: Labour is an Obstacle to the Anti-Racist Movement
by David Wearing
Throughout its history, the Labour party has been structurally enmeshed in British racism. David Wearing argues that the burgeoning anti-racist movement faces obstacles on many fronts - and that Labour, sadly but predictably, will be one of them.
Opinion: Once Again, the Government is Using Disadvantaged Children to Pursue Harmful Policies
by 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.
Novara FM: How We Might Live: Architecture and Culture
James Butler is joined by Owen Hatherley, culture editor of Tribune Magazine to talk architecture - socialist and otherwise - and the politics of culture.
Novara FM: Hostile Environment: Maya Goodfellow on Race and Migration
James Butler is joined by Maya Goodfellow to discuss the history and politics of migration in the UK.
The Labour Right Would Prefer a Johnson Government to a Corbyn One. It’s Time to Replace Them
by Aaron Bastani
This week 64 Labour Lords took out an advert in the Guardian criticising the party’s leadership. Aaron Bastani argues this represents a last ditch effort from the Labour right and their allies in the media to stifle any chance of a Corbyn-led government.
No, Labour Hasn’t Always Been an Anti-Racist Party
by Aaron Bastani
In recent weeks, many on the Labour right have suggested the party has always been anti-racist, but that under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership this has changed. Aaron Bastani takes a look at the history of New Labour and argues this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Lockdown: The Never-Ending Sentence
Oonagh Ryder and Sam Swann are joined by Marion, a campaigner from Smash IPP. The group campaigns to free prisoners still serving the indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection.
Profits For Investors: The Political Economy of PFI
by Grace Blakeley
Following the collapse of Carillion, it would be easy to say private finance intiatives (PFIs) simply don't work. But governments from Major to Blair to May have pursued the PFI agenda despite its terrible record - so who does it work for?
The Lockdown: Britain’s Prison Industrial Complex
The Lockdown is a show all about prisons and the criminal justice system in Britain. Oonagh Ryder and Sam Swann discuss what the prison industrial complex looks like in Britain and why privatisation in the prison system matters.
You Say You Want a Revolution? 1997 and the Future That Never Happened
by Richard Power Sayeed
In this edited extract from his new book, Richard Power Sayeed considers the mixed feelings surrounding the landslide 1997 election, in a year whose effects are still being felt today.
Opposition to Momentum’s Festival Comes From Fear of the New Politics It Represents
by Andrew Dolan
Momentum's 'The World Transformed' festival is taking place on the same weekend as Labour's annual conference, in the same city. Andrew Dolan argues it's a welcome interruption to a stage-managed spectacle.
What Next? 3 Suggested Strategies for Corbyn Supporters
by Patrick Fleming, Joseph Leigh & Michael Walker
Jeremy Corbyn has become leader of the Labour party on the back of a groundswell of support for his anti-austerity agenda. His campaign has galvanised both die-hard politicos and the disenfranchised alike, so where next for Corbynistas?