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IAN LAVERY MP warns that decades of neoliberal policies have left former industrial communities behind — but a renewed Labour commitment to working people could change the political landscape
‘If my work was visual it would be in the vein of Hogarth’
David Bryant talks to Luke Wright about his recent, critically acclaimed, theatrical poetry show What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, the accompanying book of verse and hears him agitate passionately for greater political engagement and activism
PAOLO SANTALUCIA reports on how an Italian region defies US pressure to end a Cuban doctors programme
HENRY FOWLER outlines the GFTU’s new 2026-27 education programme and argues that investing in trade union education is essential to building worker power, developing leaders and strengthening collective action
We need a government that invests in saving lives not destroying them, argues SOPHIE BOLT
More expensive by weight than gold, saffron is surprisingly simple to grow. MAT COWARD explains
The public inquiry is the result of more than a decade of determined campaigning. Now, those who fought for justice want the full story of government involvement and police conduct to be told, says KATE FLANNERY
The Durham Miners’ Gala is a celebration of working-class culture, but also a call to action — to rebuild workers’ collective strength, says KIM JOHNSON MP
Luke Wright has long been an important figure on the British live poetry circuit. Arguably responsible for inventing “themed” theatrical poetry shows with the help of his cohorts in Aisle 16 — a show that presented the artform as an ironic series of motivational business talks — he’s also been broadcast on Channel 4 and is in the rare position of being able to earn a living purely from his popular live work alone.
What I Learned From Johnny Bevan is his current award-winning poetry show and book. Using the expensive and offensive fictional festival Urbania on abandoned sink estate the Grooms as the springboard for its narrative, it’s an energetic yet heartrending piece of work.
Flashing back to a 1990s student friendship between the comfortable, middle-class Colchester boy Nick and the Grooms estate dwelling Bevan, it reveals what happens to their lives in the aftermath of Blair’s victory.
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Apart from a bright spark of hope in the victory of the Gaza motion, this year’s conference lacked vision and purpose — we need to urgently reconnect Labour with its roots rather than weakly aping the flag-waving right, argues KIM JOHNSON MP
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