In his fortnightly column MARK SEDDON reflects on the death of Major Oak and why such ancient trees matter to us
Latest editorial
Galloway’s challenge to Labour won’t go away quickly
The catastrophic collapse in confidence under Starmer and the decent result for the left-populist Workers Party show's Labour's retreat from principled, working-class politics will cost it dearly well beyond Batley and Spen, argues NICK WRIGHT
The world’s largest communist party marked its 105th birthday this week — and remains true to its principles and firm in its course, says OLIVER VARGAS
The left has become too reliant on persuasion and too detached from the workplaces and communities it seeks to represent, argues NICK TROY
RAMZY BAROUD highlights how Israel’s ambassador sought to shut down UN officials documenting sexual violence and abuses against Palestinians
The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has had far-reaching consequences, including a boost to Pakistan’s regional standing, argues ROGER McKENZIE
The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The drive to strengthen European defence is reshaping relations between France, Germany, Italy and Britain, says NICK WRIGHT
THE narrow win for Kim Leadbeater in the Batley and Spen by-election is down — in part — to an impressive Get Out The Vote operation.
It seems that a still-intelligent element in Labour’s apparatus has learnt from the Momentum surge tactics and perhaps, from Stalin’s famous aphorism that once the political line has been determined, organisation decides all.
The party machinery pulled out all the stops — something it will not be able to achieve in every constituency during a general election — and in doing so demonstrated how much more effective Labour’s ground operation could be if the apparatus worked in unity with the membership rather than witch-hunted activists on the left.
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This by-election could plausibly see both Reform and Labour defeated — but splitting the left insurgent vote would put that at risk, argues CHRIS WILLIAMSON
Every Starmer boast about removing asylum-seekers probably wins Reform another seat while Labour loses more voters to Lib Dems, Greens and nationalists than to the far right — the disaster facing Labour is the leadership’s fault, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Deep disillusionment with the Westminster cross-party consensus means rupture with the status quo is on the cards – bringing not only opportunities but also dangers, says NICK WRIGHT
In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026