Robinson successfully defended his school from closure, fought for the unification of the teaching unions, mentored future trade union leaders and transformed teaching at the Marx Memorial Library, writes JOHN FOSTER
The battles of the past can inform today’s struggles
As the Communist Party marks its 100th anniversary year, TOM MORRISON looks to one of its most influential periods in the ’60s-70s where grassroots alliances were key
ordon McLennan, Communist candidate for St Pancras, John Gollan, general secretary, and Bert Ramelson, head of the industrial department, at the Communist Party Conference in 1974
A judge in a German court ruled that the ban activity imposed on renowned Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah was unlawful, reports LEON WYSTRYCHOWSKI
At the very moment Britain faces poverty, housing and climate crises requiring radical solutions, the liberal press promotes ideologically narrow books while marginalising authors who offer the most accurate understanding of change, writes IAN SINCLAIR
From Gaza protest bans to proscribing Palestine Action, political elites are showing a crisis of confidence as they abandon Roy Jenkins’s apologetic approach for Suella Braverman’s aggressive ‘hate march’ rhetoric, writes PAUL DONOVAN
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the legal case behind this weekend’s Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival and the lessons for today
Ben Chacko talks to RMT leader EDDIE DEMPSEY about how the key to fixing broken Britain lies in collective sectoral bargaining, restoring unions’ ability to take solidarity strike action and bringing about the much-vaunted ‘wave of insourcing’
The summer of 1950 saw Labour abandon further nationalisation while escalating Korean War spending from £2.3m to £4.7m, as the government meekly accepted capitalism’s licence and became Washington’s yes-man, writes JOHN ELLISON
THE most successful period of the Communist Party — now in its centenary year — in living memory is the 1960s, stretching into the mid-70s.
At this time, the CP, while not a mass party, nevertheless exerted mass influence in industrial politics.
Bert Ramelson was elected to the post of industrial organiser in 1965 and because of the impact of the industrial department under his leadership, he became the bogeyman of government and the capitalist press alike.
More from this author
Tom Morrison pays tribute to the blacklisted engineering apprentice turned communist organiser who spent decades transforming Drumchapel's unemployed workers’ centre into a hub of political education, drama groups and activism
From Workers’ Memorial Day to May Day rallies, TOM MORRISON examines the real challenges facing the labour movement as Reform UK’s glossy literature exploits legitimate grievances in traditional left strongholds
With politicians dismissing constituents’ fears of global war, the peace movement must look beyond Parliament to prevent catastrophe, writes TOM MORRISON
Looking ahead to the Communist Party of Britain’s forthcoming congress, Scottish secretary TOM MORRISON explains the need for a mass movement from below that’s rooted in local demands
