Editorial

The first Irish Left Forum took place on the 18th of May 2013. The aim was to create a space for discussion on left wing politics in Ireland and to facilitate more unified work and discussion between left wing activists and those interested in left politics. The day was broken up into a deliberative session, […] Read more »

Stathis Kouvelakis reflects on the founding congress of Syriza 1. The congress of Syriza took place in a context of growing political instability following the closure of the public radio and television broadcaster (ERT) by the government of Antonis Samaras and the departure from the government of one of its three components (the party of […] Read more »

Mark Boothroyd of Southwark Left Unity examines the case for mutual aid The wholesale destruction of the welfare state is leaving the socialist movement in Britain facing a situation it has not faced for 50 or 60 years. How do you struggle when the means of sustaining life are completely stripped away, and how do […] Read more »

John Penney form Crewe Left Unity explores the need to develop a coherent National Economic Development Plan. Large scale national economic planning was a key feature of  European social democratic party manifestos, and political practice when in office, for much of the post WWII period. The first  Harold Wilson Labour government of 1964 to 1970 […] Read more »

There is  a rich discussion taking place in Left Unity and beyond about the sort of new party of the left that needs to be built in this country. Here Jay Blackwood of Bristol Left Unity makes his contribution. On the day of Thatcher’s funeral I was struggling home from the shops with my groceries […] Read more »

Why Left Unity MUST stand in elections and as soon as practically possible!!!* by Neil Williams, Chair Left Unity Milton Keynes in personal capacity In a reply to the article “Abolish the policy commissions!” one reply stated “if LU people insist on becoming a party, 2020 is the earliest one to go for – and […] Read more »

I’ve attached the text of a leaflet I’ve prepared for the Leeds Left Unity Public Meeting: Kate Hudson on The New Left, Europe and Left Unity on 31st July which can be also posted on the national Left Unity website as a contribution to the debate on the need to build a new party by […] Read more »

A contribution to the housing policy discussion from Liverpool Left Unity Housing discussion There are many aspects to the housing crisis in Britain. • The bedroom tax, • the relentless attacks on social/council housing and its removal from democratic control • the virtual end to the concept of housing based on social need • the […] Read more »

Pedro Filipe Soares is a Left Bloc MP in the Portuguese parliament. Soares attend the first congress of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) from July 10-14. Syriza, a coalition of left groups, decided to become a new political party after it came close to winning elections on an anti-austerity platform last year. The […] Read more »

A crisis is an objective fact to which there can essentially be only two responses, says economist Michael Burke. The cause can be identified and addressed, or some other explanation can be advanced which effectively shifts the blame for the crisis elsewhere. The government and the supporters of austerity are increasingly bent on the second […] Read more »