The crew of the Freedom Flotilla boat, Handala, warned Israel to obey international law but are now in captivity, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

DECEMBER is rarely a time for big protests. The weather is poor and the pressures of a commercial festival are considerable, even more so in another year with Covid concerns.
Yet traditionally Christmas and new year have been times of revolt. When most worked on the land there was little that could be done in the few hours of daylight at this time of year. There was however plenty of time for festivities and revolt.
It was a time of the election of lords of misrule (these were mainly men although in France women also took the role).

KEITH FLETT looks at the long history of coercion in British employment laws

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

While Hardie, MacDonald and Wilson faced down war pressure from their own Establishment, today’s leadership appears to have forgotten that opposing imperial adventures has historically defined Labour’s moral authority, writes KEITH FLETT

10 years ago this month, Corbyn saved Labour from its right-wing problem, and then the party machine turned on him. But all is not lost yet for the left, says KEITH FLETT