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
FOR those who support a zero-Covid strategy to deal with the ongoing pandemic, the decision of all four UK governments to ease restrictions on social interaction for a few days over the Christmas period looks like a concerning one.
Infections are likely to rise as a result, with all the problems and difficulties that can bring.
At the same time, way beyond Boris Johnson’s dreams of herd immunity, there is perhaps an understanding that Christmas genuinely is a time like no other.
JULIA THOMAS unpicks the mental processes that explain why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint
While an as-yet-unnamed new left party struggles to be born, MAT COWARD looks at some of the wild and wonderful names of workers’ organisations past that have been lost to time
The government cracking down on something it can’t comprehend and doesn’t want to engage with is a repeating pattern of history, says KEITH FLETT
KEITH FLETT revisits the 1978 origins of Britain’s May Day bank holiday — from Michael Foot’s triumph to Thatcher’s reluctant acceptance — as Starmer’s government dodges calls to expand our working-class celebrations



