SOLOMON HUGHES recommends Sunjeev Sahota’s recent novel set in a trade union election campaign for its fresh approach to what unites and divides workers, but wishes the union backdrop was truer to life
WHILE the mainstream media chunter and engage in magical thinking about Brexit, for many in the other Britain, far away from the concerns of Westminster — except when Jeremy Corbyn occasionally forces Tory MPs to face the impact of their own policies — it is set to be a miserable Christmas.
The workhouse has long since been abolished, but rough sleeping on the streets continues to rise. Meanwhile the impact of universal credit means that even those in work find themselves having to use foodbanks to live.
This situation has arisen as a direct result of Tory and Liberal Democrat policies since 2010, and from 2015 just the Tory Party of David Cameron and Theresa May. Yet they did not think up the ideas about how to make life miserable for the poor themselves. Rather they have been implemented at times of economic crisis since the 19th century.
JULIA THOMAS unpicks the mental processes that explain why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the legal case behind this weekend’s Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival and the lessons for today
KEITH FLETT traces how the ‘world’s most successful political party’ has imploded since Thatcher’s fall, from nine leaders in 30 years to losing all 16 English councils, with Reform UK symbolically capturing Peel’s birthplace, Tamworth — but the beast is not dead yet



