The Tories introduced the 50% strike ballot threshold to make industrial action harder. MATT WRACK argues that a Labour government has no justification for leaving it on the statute book
FOR those who support a zero-Covid strategy to deal with the ongoing pandemic, the decision of all four UK governments to ease restrictions on social interaction for a few days over the Christmas period looks like a concerning one.
Infections are likely to rise as a result, with all the problems and difficulties that can bring.
At the same time, way beyond Boris Johnson’s dreams of herd immunity, there is perhaps an understanding that Christmas genuinely is a time like no other.
MAT COWARD writes on Ghost Runner John Tarrant
JULIA THOMAS unpicks the mental processes that explain why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint
It’s not just the Starmer regime: the workers of Britain have always faced legal affronts on their right to assemble and dissent, and the Labour Party especially has meddled with our freedoms from its earliest days, writes KEITH FLETT
While an as-yet-unnamed new left party struggles to be born, MAT COWARD looks at some of the wild and wonderful names of workers’ organisations past that have been lost to time


