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
The dangerous tempo of politics shifting rightward
Like pieces on a chess board, centrist parties lose ground as they accommodate rather than challenge far-right agendas — socialists must play things better, warns MATT KERR
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
I AGREE with Rishi Sunak on one thing: chess should be taught in schools. With everything going on in the classroom these days — lack of resources, lack of teachers, lack of time to learn rather than be taught to pass an exam — you’d be forgiven if you didn’t see it as much of a priority.
It’s a great leveller though. Whether you are rich, poor, man, woman, old or young it doesn’t count for much when the game begins. Well, not quite. There is one concession to the world — white begins with privilege.
At primary school in Saltcoats, there was a local man who would turn up one lunchtime a week, rain or shine on his bicycle to teach us primary sevens chess. Mr Tumelty ate his jam sandwiches offering gentle advice as we competed for position on the chess ladder. Some were more interested than others, but we all had a go, and a couple of us even played in a few competitions as a result.
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After battling hills, rain and injury in a three-day cycle ride ending at the CWU conference, MATT KERR reflects on why class unity remains the answer to injustice
As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
Trump’s Gaza deal is a transient, self-aggrandising spectacle that barely distracts from the West’s outright complicity in the massacre in Gaza and our slide into warmongering, writes MATT KERR