Last week’s seminar at the Frontline Club asked a very pertinent question of the Occupy London movement pitched outside St. Paul’s. What do you want? I was surprised to see from the show of journalistic hands that the majority in the room did not know exactly what the protesters are camped out for, though, given [...]
I have to first apologise about the vague title of this post, but I found it somewhat resembling the confusion on which direction these occupations might take. While I disagree with some of what Jacob has written previous to this post on here, I will say that we must remain thinking, all the time, about [...]
This report on Syria is from a text circulated by a friend. From April to June I’ve been sending you some reports on the situation in Syria. After briefly returning to Germany, for about a week I’ve now been back in Beirut with Rami Nakle (aka. Malath Aumran) in order to support him in his [...]
Anybody interested in the revolution in Egypt should take the time to read this interview by Parvez Sharma with an Egyptian protester: http://www.al-bab.com/blog/2011/blog1102c.htm. Being interviewed is the man previously referred to as ‘Yousry’ to protect his identity, but who now insists on having his real name – Omar – published openly (demonstrating the new sense of confidence among the [...]
One of the most frequently repeated myths on the left is that we are fighting for the representation of this vast number of people who lie to the left of the Labour Party. In fact in nearly every single demonstration or large public meeting I attend I am told about this by some faux-psephologist with [...]
Two events, at each end of the last week here in London, have highlighted the real range of activities and viewpoints of the left community in this country. The 7th annual Historical Materialism Conference, held last weekend at SOAS and Birkbeck, offered a fantastic opportunity for over 700 attendees from around the world to discuss [...]
Since Chris’ tragic death at the weekend there have been a number of warm and inspiring tributes, and I thought I’d highlight a few here. Michael Rosen in the Guardian. Alex Callinicos, John Rose and many other comrades in Socialist Worker. Snowball on Histomat. Keith Flett from the London Socialist Historian’s group.
Chris Harman, editor of International Socialism, former Editor of Socialist Worker and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party, died last night in Cairo where he was speaking. This news is still raw, but I wanted to offer some initial thoughts. Chris made, through his journal writings and numerous books, an enormous contribution to [...]
“He thinks we’re all bloody bourgeois” scoffed Austen Ivereigh, as he puffed on his Montecristo in a trendy bar in King’s Cross, whilst reading aloud David Broder’s response to yesterday’s Strangers Into Citizens demonstration. “This looks like it was written thirty years ago,” he chortled to himself. Ivereigh is a founder of the Strangers into [...]
“Dirty hippy layabout scum, taking the taxpayers’ money and wasting it, not interested in politics as much as his own image or where the next spliff is coming from.” Such is the common description of any student on an occupation. Always seen a illegitimate because they don’t have proper jobs. Always seen as not really [...]
