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
THE Tory culture war, which sees incessant media talk about a Red Wall of north of England parliamentary seats that have been Labour since the 1950s or ’60s, has a complex and interesting history.
The original motor was George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse which did little or nothing to address issues of deprivation and poor public services. More recently a focus was on Brexit, where it was argued, with a degree of justification, that some Labour voters would not vote for a party that backed Remain.
Jeremy Corbyn did a good deal to address this point successfully in 2017 but then came arch-remainer and former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer.
KEITH FLETT looks at geographical roots of working-class activism in Britain
Labour movement history in Britain shows workers secured reforms through collective pressure and political representation, rather than being gifted from above, writes KEITH FLETT
Inspired by a hit TV show, KEITH FLETT takes a look at the murky history of undercover class war
Who you ask and how you ask matter, as does why you are asking — the history of opinion polls shows they are as much about creating opinions as they are about recording them, writes socialist historian KEITH FLETT


