Weegie Elegy
Douglas Stuart’s acclaimed novel Shuggie Bain paints a compelling picture of the dying days of industrial Clydeside, but its success owes much to a formal conservatism and political quietism.
3625 Articles by:
Ellie Whittaker
Ellie Woolstencroft is an activist with Labour for a Green New Deal.
Playing by the Rules
Anneliese Dodds’ speech was not as bad as advertised – but it demonstrated the fundamental problem with Labour’s new leadership: it is more concerned with appearing respectable to elites than with representing popular interests.
How Not to Save Scottish Labour
Richard Leonard’s resignation is evidence of serious problems in the Scottish Labour Party – problems which can’t be fixed by a return to Blairism, no matter what millionaire donors may think.
Solidarity Begins at the Care Home
Today, workers at a Jewish care home begin three days of strike action for fair wages, sick pay, and annual leave. Jewish Solidarity Action is mobilising the community to stand right behind them.
How Covid-19 Is Reshaping the Global South
The spread of Covid-19 across the world was facilitated by a globalised economy rigged in favour of big corporations – and the long-term consequences are likely to fall most severely on those it exploits: the countries of the Global South.
How the Outsourcing of Hospital Cleaning Fuelled the Covid Disaster
With growing concern over the spread of Covid-19 in hospitals, new figures show that outsourcing led to a £38 million cut in hospital cleaning in the past decade – with the loss of 1,000 jobs.
20. Cutting to the Bone: An Interview with Vijay Prashad
In this week’s A World to Win, Grace speaks to Marxist historian Vijay Prashad about India’s mass strikes, the rise of the far right, and the persistence of imperial power in the global economy.
Britain’s Covid Crisis: A View from the Frontline
A doctor on the frontline describes the Covid crisis in Britain’s hospitals – from staff exhausted and off sick to triaging patients, scrambling for space, hospital transmission and a death toll now exceeding 100,000.
How Women Helped to Build Peace in Northern Ireland
Women activists from across Northern Ireland’s divide played a crucial role in securing the Good Friday Agreement – and building a foundation of democracy, equality and respect which could ensure a lasting peace.
Labour’s Climate Conservatism
Keir Starmer’s failure to involve grassroots campaigners in Labour’s climate strategy betrays a lack of radicalism in the party’s vision – which is out of step with the policies we need to prevent disaster.
Why We Need a National Food Service
Across the country, activists are working to provide food to those who need it without the involvement of private profiteers. A National Food Service is being built from the ground up – now, it needs public funding.
Our Debt to Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher passed away five years ago today. In bleak times, his writing showed a new generation that another world was possible – and paved the way for socialist revival.
The Tories’ Covid-19 Myth-Making
The government is using the new strain to shift blame for the crisis and paint itself as heroic – but from the very beginning its policies have compounded this public health disaster.
Outsourcing: Corruption by Another Name
When a government in a poorer country hands public money to their friends to provide public services, only to see them pocket the lion’s share, we call it corruption. In Britain, we call it putting out to tender.
The Political James Joyce
Today marks the 80th anniversary of James Joyce’s death. His writing was impacted by the great political intrigues of his time – from nationalism to religion, and his own sympathies for socialism.
The Great School Meals Rip-Off
The miserable school meal ‘hampers’ are the latest public services outsourced to for-profit companies that consistently fail to deliver. Childhood hunger should not be lining private pockets.
Big Tech’s Control of the Public Sphere Should Worry Us All
Many on the Left celebrated the suspension of Donald Trump’s Twitter account – but behind the decision lies a nexus of unaccountable power that threatens socialists as much as it does the far-right.
Covid-19 Vaccines Should Be a Public Good
Covid-19 vaccines should be mass produced and made available to the whole world – but because of the pharmaceutical industry and its patents, private profit and not public health will determine the rollout.
Cinema: For Us, the Most Important Art
Cinema is not the same as streaming: it’s collective, and often inspires discussion and argument. In 2021, when the pandemic finally recedes, why not build socialist film clubs?
After the Capitol Riot, it’s Time to Rebuild Class Politics
The US Capitol riot was just the latest sign of a political system in deep crisis – and the only long-term solution is a break with the culture war and a return to class struggle.