A ‘new phase’ for Starmerism is fairly similar to the old phase – only worse. ANDREW MURRAY takes a look
Black Lives Matter: the largest and most effective US social movement in history?
The sheer scale of the ongoing protests in the US is matched by a drastic shift in public opinion: in a 2014 poll only 33 per cent acknowledged police racism — that same poll today has a majority of 57 per cent. The US is changing, writes IAN SINCLAIR
Alycia Pascual-Pena (left) and Marley Ralph kneel while holding a Black Lives Matter banner during a protest in memory of Breonna Taylor in Los Angeles. Taylor was killed in her apartment by members of the Louisville police in March
Macron is seeking a centrist replacement for the pro-austerity French PM, while the emergence of the grassroots Bloquons Tout movement means for the left there’s a period of struggle ahead – and all to play for, writes BILL GREENSHIELDS
The Met Police arrested a staggering 890 people, many elderly, disabled, and even blind in a single demonstration — all to back up the government’s unhinged campaign against non-violent civil disobedience at the behest of Israel, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
The people of Palestine need our solidarity in actions not words – trade unionists must give them our full support in their darkest hour, writes DANIEL KEBEDE
Investing the £75 billion slated for defence spending on a green new deal, healthcare and education would create jobs and help communities far more than weapons spending, argues UCU general secretary JO GRADY
BEN CHACKO reports on fears at TUC Congress that the provisions in the legislation are liable to be watered down even further
LIKE many people I’ve followed and been inspired by the extensive news coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests in the US. But I really didn’t understand their extraordinary size until I read a recent New York Times analysis.
The women-founded movement began in 2013 with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after George Zimmerman was acquitted when he shot and killed 17-year old African-American Trayvon Martin in Florida. Since them BLM has highlighted and opposed the brutality, injustice and unaccountability that black people experience in the US, especially from the police and legal system.
BLM activists played a leading role in the demonstrations sparked by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and have led the protests in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 2020.
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