Britain

'Economics for the Many' offer a radical, democratic vision for a Corbyn gov鈥檛

Edited by John McDonnell
Verso, 2018

This book is a valuable collection of 16 short essays on the crisis facing modern Britain, coming up with progressive solutions which a Jeremy Corbyn-led government could usher in.

It is edited by and has an introduction by Labour鈥檚 shadow chancellor John McDonnell, a long-time socialist and close collaborator of Corbyn鈥檚. He says: 鈥淲e are seeking nothing less than to build a society that is radically fairer, more democratic and more sustainable, in which the wealth of society is shared by all.鈥

Vivienne Westwood: Punk to the bone

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
Directed by Lorna Tucker
In cinemas

In the 1970s, punks astounded Britain with their T-shirts worn inside out and torn clothes with safety pins.

Vivienne Westwood was the person responsible for most of that look.聽Not only did she tear clothing apart, she lived a similar life.

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist is a raw, unpredictable and unapologetic documentary about the punk icon and fashion designer.聽

Watching it was a whirlwind. At times I was smiling, others I felt frustration.

Documenting resistance in colonial Kenya


By Shiraz Durrani
African Books Collective, 2018

What recent London demos say about the state of the British left

Demonstrations on successive weekends in London last month shone a spotlight on major political rifts 鈥 in the major parties and in the political left.

On October 13, an extreme right-wing Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA) march was out-mobilised and disrupted by anti-fascist demonstrators. One week later, about 670,000 people turned out for a 鈥淧eople鈥檚 Vote鈥 demonstration.

Huge protests reject Tory Brexit

From Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square, about 700,000 people filled central London on October 20 protesting聽against the Tory Brexit,聽writes聽Andy Stowe.聽It was the largest demonstration the city had seen since the march聽against聽the Iraq war in 2003.

British peace campaigners blockade nuclear bomb factory

Campaigners from all over Britain united on October 25 to blockade the government鈥檚 nuclear bomb factory in Berkshire in England鈥檚 south-east, preventing the staff from entering the site.

The Trident Ploughshares activists locked themselves together across the site鈥檚 gates before work began at the Burghfield site. A private road leading to Burghfield was also barricaded at each end by cars with protesters fastened to them.

Brexit crunches Britain

The European Union elites have rejected British Prime Minister Theresa May鈥檚 Brexit proposals (known as the Chequers plan) on the basis that they breach the fundamental principles of the EU; i.e. the internal market and free movement. Alan Davies write that this has increased the likelihood of a disorderly (鈥渘o deal鈥) exit from the EU 鈥 and increased support for a second referendum on the issue.

Do we really need a Statebook? How to democratise social media

From taxing tech firms to pay the license fee to creating a new British Digital Corporation (BDC), the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture by British Labour鈥檚 socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn聽 in August聽 unveiled an array of potential new Labour聽 digital policies, writes Nick Webb.

These proposals are not yet official party policy, but they give a good sense of where Labour鈥檚 leadership is headed as it develops its offering ahead of a potential Brexit-related snap election.

British Labour reaffirms radical turn at conference

The British Labour Party took a radical, anti-austerity manifesto to last year鈥檚 general elections and, despite polls and media commentators expecting an unprecedented disaster, came close to winning, denying the ruling Conservatives a majority. Despite this success, attempts to attack and sabotage Labour鈥檚 socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the ranks that support his vision, have continued. 惭颈肠丑补别濒听颁补濒诲别谤产补苍办聽takes a look at what took place and what it means for the party鈥檚 future.

Participatory socialist economics: the vision of British Labour鈥檚 shadow chancellor John McDonnell

Tory-supporting media have been portraying Britain鈥檚 socialist Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as a Soviet fellow-traveller. Meanwhile, 贬颈濒补谤测听奥补颈苍飞谤颈驳丑迟 notes, Labour鈥檚 shadow chancellor and close Corbyn ally sets out a vision that breaks with the old bureaucratic state model.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell can usually barely breathe a word about nationalisation without setting off a media frenzy, so it鈥檚 strange that his most interesting comments yet on the subject passed with so little comment.

We need a drug policy for the 21st century

Canada鈥檚 historic vote in June to legalise cannabis is yet another nail in the coffin of the so-called War on Drugs, conceived in the 1970s by聽then US-president Richard Nixon, writes Natalie Sharples.

鈥淪o called鈥 because it was deliberately conceived to obscure what it really was: not a war on substances at all, but on Black people and the anti-war left.

People 'justifiably angry' as British Labour's NEC caves on Israel, Jewish socialists say

People are 鈥渏ustifiably angry鈥 that Labour鈥檚 national executive committee (NEC) decided to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, Jewish Socialists鈥 Group鈥檚 Julia Bard said after the NEC voted to do so on September 4.

Jewish Socialists鈥 Group activist David Rosenberg said it was 鈥渘o doubt a significant setback鈥 for Jeremy Corbyn鈥檚 allies but, despite the adoption of the definition and all its 11 examples, pro-Israel MPs and groups are hesitant to call it a victory.