reflections – research – reading
It was shortly after 9.15 on the morning of Friday 4 May, 1979. We were gathered for the first lesson of the day. Our teacher asked us, a class of ten-year-olds, what important event had happened in the news. My hand was one of the first in the air. ‘Britain’s first woman prime minister!’ What … Continue reading the personal and the political
‘Political renewal and the future of Labour’. This was the title of a recent conference convened by Labour Together, bringing various groups and interests within the Labour movement together for the first time to exchange and explore ideas in a common space. The conference aimed to initiate discussion: how should Labour ‘rediscover its sense of historic … Continue reading a healing process: labour’s future (conference report)
Another weekend, another German regional election, this time in Berlin. And in stark contrast to the recent outcome in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV), the Berlin Senate result gave a much-needed boost to the Left Party. But some trends are still worrying: in both elections, waged workers supported the right-wing populist AfD over the democratic socialists; and unlike the … Continue reading germany’s shifting political landscape — part two: what’s next for the left party?
It’s unusual for me to sit on the fence about any important political issue. But the decision whether to remain in or leave the EU has been a uniquely long and complex one, full of contradictions and riddled with doubt — hence the inordinate length of time it’s taken to write this piece. I'm not … Continue reading leave or remain? the story of a conflicted decision
(research notebook) Something I’ve often been quizzed on is my reason for writing about the Left Party. In fact, my Viva examination opened with this very question. By that point, I’d been buried in theory, literature and writing for so long that the initial inspiration seemed but a distant memory. So this post is about … Continue reading ‘why the left party?’ reflecting on the research journey
So Sadiq Khan is now officially Mayor of London. The media haven’t missed an opportunity to point out that the city is the first major western European capital to be run by a Muslim. I read a comment on social media which argued that, interesting though this fact might be, the important thing is that … Continue reading class and farce – two comments on the london election
the green left hand 