On Saturday, a little bleary eyed from a party the night before, I went and marched with the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture. Smiley Culture (born David Emmanuel) was a star before I was born. Half Guyanese, half Caribbean, Smiley became an early success story from the Afro-Caribbean music scene of South London. Pick [...]
When it comes to the discussion about immigration, both its advocates and its opponents tend to display a certain contempt for the working class. Last week Cameron lamented the consequences of high immigration, and blamed the phenomenon on the British welfare system. British workers, he argued had become addicted to welfare, in turn forcing British [...]
Guest post by Jon Wright Fuck it, this does it. The final straw. I’ve been a Labour member for eight-odd years, I’ve trodden pavements, knocked on doors, phoned people – and all this time I’ve been waiting for the party to start reflecting at least a shift towards the sort of socialist view that I [...]
This is a guest post by Andy McGowan, Access Officer at Cambridge University Students’ Union So Nick and Dave are at it again – and I don’t just mean making embarrassing slips of the tongue like this one. They’ve also gone back to having a go at easy targets as a smokescreen for their own [...]
This is a guest post by Natalie. Over the past year I’ve observed “autonomism” being periodically evoked by members of Trotskyist/Leninist socialist parties as a dangerous force in the anti-cuts movement. The “autonomist” does not bode well for any activist group- they are opposed to all forms of structure and organisation, they refuse to vote [...]
As you may or may not have noticed, the lefty blogosphere erupted in mild outrage recently over the news that Camden Council had ‘banned’ the anti-monarchist organisation Republic from holding a ‘not the Royal wedding’-themed street party in Covent Garden. (The party wasn’t strictly banned – the council just refused to close the street – [...]
The people of Iceland have spoken. A referendum, held over the weekend, has stopped the country from handing over $5.2 billion to the UK and the Netherlands. This sum would have covered payments to British and Dutch savers who lost out when Icesave went down. It is not, these days, unusual, for the general public [...]
We all know that the Alternative Vote isn’t the panacea. It’s not going to cure all the ills of our democracy. Only true proportional representation can do that. But since it’s the best we have on offer, it deserves fair consideration on its own merits. I support AV because I believe that in a democracy, [...]
It has become so boringly familiar. “Emergency services held back by red tape”, runs the typical headline in the press. Usually this refers to an incident in which the emergency services have been halted in their duties by serious concerns about their own safety. This, in turn, will upset a great many people, who appear [...]
Today it was announced that the minimum wage be cut in real terms. Inflation running at 4.4% – and expected to rise beyond 5% this year – the minimum wage will rise just 2.5% to £6.08 per hour, effectively knocking 15p off its value. Not a bad result for the business class, you would think. [...]
