Starmer’s Malaise
Under Starmer’s leadership, Labour lacks any coherent vision and is floundering in the polls – but the path forward for the Left remains unclear.
3625 Articles by:
Ko Leik Pya works as a teacher and writer in the UK and Myanmar. He writes here under a pseudonym.
Under Starmer’s leadership, Labour lacks any coherent vision and is floundering in the polls – but the path forward for the Left remains unclear.
The proper way to respect Britain’s pandemic dead would be to end the corruption, overcrowding, and privatisation that caused thousands of unnecessary deaths in the first place.
The spoiling of our fields and waters for private profit is leading to ecological chaos. While the Tories ignore it, Labour is demanding action to reverse Britain’s environmental crisis.
Recent evidence makes clear that the Left is losing its historic base in working-class communities — either we rebuild class politics or accept that socialism is off the table.
Manus O’Riordan, who passed away last month, dedicated his life keeping anti-fascist memory alive – and to ensuring future generations never forgot why men like his father joined the International Brigades.
Studies have long shown that poor quality housing makes us sick – which means that any government looking to improve public health needs to tackle the housing crisis, too.
In 1981, a working-class community in Toxteth, Liverpool rose up against police racism, unemployment, and Thatcher’s neglect. For Black History Month, we remember the L8 Uprising.
Cryptocurrency promises to liberate the monetary system from the clutches of the powerful – but it mostly functions as a way to make wealthy speculators even wealthier.
Ten years of austerity has seen mental health budgets slashed while demand has risen to record levels. Britain’s mental health crisis isn’t inevitable – it’s the result of political choices.
Charitable giving among the super-rich has one goal, and it isn’t to change the world – it’s to keep it exactly the way it is.
Corporate social responsibility argues that ethical capitalists can solve the problems that capitalism itself creates – but the only truly responsible course of action is to end a system built on exploitation.
The Left is haunted by the prospect of becoming a subculture divorced from mass politics – but the history of our movement shows that marginal spaces play a critical role in liberating society.
The Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle has been criticised for sportswashing, but it also exposes a stark reality of football capitalism – that the only way to replace one billionaire owner is with another.
This week’s conference saw Boris Johnson talk of ‘levelling up’ as part of his grand scheme for the country – but we wouldn’t need to level up if a decade of Tory austerity hadn’t levelled us down.
By embracing the Blair-era legacy of Ofsted ratings, Keir Starmer is signalling that Labour is no longer committed to progressive education reform – and abandoning young people to a broken system.
The Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United might be welcomed by success-starved fans, but handing another football institution over to billionaire tyrants will scar the game and the communities that built it.
In 1977, as Britain marked the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, black residents of Birmingham organised an act of solidarity with liberation movements the world over. For Black History Month, we remember African Liberation Day.
Keir Starmer was elected to the Labour leadership on a pledge of party unity, but his actions since have shown that Labour’s right-wing cares more about defeating the Left than winning power.
At this year’s Conservative conference, a government which is overseeing hardship for millions amid countless economic crises got the chance to sing its own praises – and did so without an ounce of shame.
In this week’s episode, Grace Blakeley speaks to Bernie 2020 co-chair Nina Turner about the neoliberal campaign against the progressive agenda – and why working people must ‘throw down’ to defeat them.