National

The latest growth data confirm that Ireland went back into recession at the end of 2012. Despite all the talk about corners being turned, we find that economy is going backwards, says economist Michael Burke. GDP is lower than it was in 2009. GNP, which does not include the effects of movements in profits by […] Read more »

Peter Hill responds to Ed Rooksby’s recent article on this website. Rooksby outlines three possible models for left-wing organization in Britain, which are emerging, he argues, in ’embryonic form’. The first is the ‘networked movement of the Left’ called for by Owen Jones, ‘which would encompass activists from both within and outside the Labour Party’; the […] Read more »

The cause of left unity in the face of an all-out assault on the working class by this Conservative government has never been more necessary nor more urgent, says Salman Shaheen. But if Left Unity passes its first hurdle, bringing together the myriad squabbling clans who can sometimes seem to spend as much time attacking […] Read more »

I’m sick of feeling unrepresented, says Adam Roden. I’m sick of my only choice being Labour, a party that maybe once, long ago, would have been the right choice. I’m sick of the Right-wing parties of this country having all the drive, all the ideas, all the tub-thumping, crowd pleasing rhetoric (however much I might […] Read more »

Two initiatives are before the British left as we move, possibly, to summer. The People’s Assembly in June and Ken Loach’s call for a new left organization around Left Unity related to his excellent Spirit of ’45 film writes Keith Flett of the London Socialist Historians Group. This is an historical note so I don’t […] Read more »

For the first time in a long period the conditions for the emergence of a broad left coalition of forces in the UK capable of attracting large-scale support seem ripe, says Ed Rooksby. These conditions have been generated and shaped, in my view, by four major interconnected political and economic developments. These developments themselves comprise […] Read more »

The following resolution was proposed by Nick Wrack at the meeting of the Independent Socialist Network held yesterday. The resolution was passed unanimously. The ISN notes the Left Unity initiative and the call by Ken Loach for people to join in a discussion about the need for a new party of the left. The ISN […] Read more »

Lucy Reynolds is an academic who has studied the background of the NHS in detail, learning in the process what the appalling consequences of privatisation will be. Here she answers questions put by Jill Mountfield, a member of the steering committee on the “Save Lewisham Hospital” campaign. Read more »

In the interests of comradeship Edd Mustill @ejmustill examines a few concepts that should be banned in discussions between left-wing activists. Edd invites you to add your own suggestions in the comments box below. “People are very angry” People get up in meetings and say this all the time, before going on to explain how […] Read more »

(First Left Unity Newsletter) “I think there’s a new mood among people. The serious attacks on public services, on the N.H.S. and education, the savage cuts on the poorest people and the general cynicism with politicians – all this makes us determined to find an alternative. Let’s make a start, in an open and democratic […] Read more »