The Quiet Disappearance of Britain’s Public Libraries
Public spending cuts have closed almost 800 libraries in the past decade – a fifth of the UK’s total. It is a campaign of vandalism against our culture and communities led by the Tory government.
4354 Articles by:
Miriam Pensack
Miriam Pensack is a writer, editor, and doctoral candidate in Latin American history at New York University.
How Bosses Betrayed Firefighters During a Pandemic
This week, fire service employers withdrew from a safety agreement that protected firefighters during the Covid-19 pandemic – it is just the latest example of unscrupulous bosses using a crisis to attack workers’ rights.
Memories of a Punk Poet
Poet John Cooper Clarke’s memoirs are an addictively readable set-text of a drug-fuelled, working-class and autodidactic life.
The Government Has Failed to Inoculate Against Social Inequality
The government is pinning all of its hopes on vaccine rollout – but by refusing to take effective measures to ensure the lower-paid can stay home in the meantime, they are guaranteeing further weeks of Covid disaster.
The Cosy Politics of the BBC Chair
The appointment of Tory donor and right-wing think-tanker Richard Sharp as BBC Chair strengthens the party’s grip on the broadcaster – and continues a long history of political concerns trumping the public interest.
Weegie Elegy
Douglas Stuart’s acclaimed novel Shuggie Bain paints a compelling picture of the dying days of industrial Clydeside, but its success owes much to a formal conservatism and political quietism.
Playing by the Rules
Anneliese Dodds’ speech was not as bad as advertised – but it demonstrated the fundamental problem with Labour’s new leadership: it is more concerned with appearing respectable to elites than with representing popular interests.
How Not to Save Scottish Labour
Richard Leonard’s resignation is evidence of serious problems in the Scottish Labour Party – problems which can’t be fixed by a return to Blairism, no matter what millionaire donors may think.
Solidarity Begins at the Care Home
Today, workers at a Jewish care home begin three days of strike action for fair wages, sick pay, and annual leave. Jewish Solidarity Action is mobilising the community to stand right behind them.
How Covid-19 Is Reshaping the Global South
The spread of Covid-19 across the world was facilitated by a globalised economy rigged in favour of big corporations – and the long-term consequences are likely to fall most severely on those it exploits: the countries of the Global South.
How the Outsourcing of Hospital Cleaning Fuelled the Covid Disaster
With growing concern over the spread of Covid-19 in hospitals, new figures show that outsourcing led to a £38 million cut in hospital cleaning in the past decade – with the loss of 1,000 jobs.
20. Cutting to the Bone: An Interview with Vijay Prashad
In this week’s A World to Win, Grace speaks to Marxist historian Vijay Prashad about India’s mass strikes, the rise of the far right, and the persistence of imperial power in the global economy.
Britain’s Covid Crisis: A View from the Frontline
A doctor on the frontline describes the Covid crisis in Britain’s hospitals – from staff exhausted and off sick to triaging patients, scrambling for space, hospital transmission and a death toll now exceeding 100,000.
How Women Helped to Build Peace in Northern Ireland
Women activists from across Northern Ireland’s divide played a crucial role in securing the Good Friday Agreement – and building a foundation of democracy, equality and respect which could ensure a lasting peace.
Labour’s Climate Conservatism
Keir Starmer’s failure to involve grassroots campaigners in Labour’s climate strategy betrays a lack of radicalism in the party’s vision – which is out of step with the policies we need to prevent disaster.
Why We Need a National Food Service
Across the country, activists are working to provide food to those who need it without the involvement of private profiteers. A National Food Service is being built from the ground up – now, it needs public funding.
Our Debt to Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher passed away five years ago today. In bleak times, his writing showed a new generation that another world was possible – and paved the way for socialist revival.
The Political James Joyce
Today marks the 80th anniversary of James Joyce’s death. His writing was impacted by the great political intrigues of his time — from nationalism to religion, and his own sympathies for socialism.
Our Debt to Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher passed away four years ago today. In bleak times, his writing showed a new generation that another world was possible — and paved the way for socialist revival.
The Tories’ Covid-19 Myth-Making
The government is using the new strain to shift blame for the crisis and paint itself as heroic – but from the very beginning its policies have compounded this public health disaster.