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
China’s democracy: how the National People’s Congress works
Western media dismisses the National People’s Congress while ignoring its extensive consultation processes, massive public participation mechanisms, and a tiered structure involving millions of deputies, explains JENNY CLEGG
Closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, March 11, 2025
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
CHINA’S nearly 3,000-member National People’s Congress (NPC) has just gathered for its annual meeting in Beijing. Western mainstream media continually disparages China’s main legislature as a “rubber stamp parliament” — mindlessly repeating the phrase to numb readers’ minds to any thought other than that China must be a dictatorship.
That there are other forms of democracy — the idea of democratic centralism, deliberative democracy, has been around for over 100 years — the mainstream media cannot comprehend.
True, the NPC only meets for two weeks a year and never seems to reject any piece of legislation put before it. However, the reason why laws are passed unanimously is that they undergo a prior long and arduous process of deliberation, consultation and revision to ensure disagreements and differences are addressed and ultimately consensus is reached.
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JENNY CLEGG reports from a Chinese peace conference bringing together defence ministers, US think tanks and global South leaders, where speakers warned that the erosion of multilateralism risks regional hotspots exploding into wider war
JENNY CLEGG sets out and then responds to eight key doubts about the Brics+ alliance in light of the developments at Kazan, arguing it represents a significant challenge to US hegemony and provides a path towards a multipolar world
JENNY CLEGG pays tribute to a remarkable woman who was a pioneer in bringing about greater understanding between China and the West
The US does not have a plan for peace in the Middle East — nor is it in their interests. China does have a plan — and it is in the interests of the rest of the world that it is listened to and supported, explains JENNY CLEGG
