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
Fighting for peace: opposition to Thatcher's Falklands War
On May 1 the Peace Pledge Union carried out a series of actions nationwide against what is largely regarded as a war that 'almost all' British people supported — not true, writes SYMON HILL, revealing a hidden history of resistance
Royal Marines exercise the deck of the HMS Hermes, the Flag Ship of the British Task Force on route to the Falkland Islands, April 1982
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
ON MAY DAY 40 years ago, anti-war campaigners were arrested in cities around Britain.
Argentinian troops had invaded the Falklands Islands a month earlier. The British naval task force had been dispatched to the South Atlantic and the Thatcher government avoided a negotiated settlement. All-out war looked likely to break out very soon.
On May 1, 1982, the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) called a country-wide day of protest and resistance. Demonstrations and vigils took place in at least 30 towns and cities. Some involved small-scale marches, others were more dramatic. Women in Sheffield occupied a Royal Navy recruitment office. Another recruitment office was paint-bombed in Holborn. Protesters in Glasgow were arrested while handing out leaflets and selling newspapers.
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The unnecessarily violent police intervention at a Quaker place of worship is a PR disaster and will only serve to deepen the chasm between them and the public. SYMON HILL reports
The police have finally admitted it was totally illegal to arrest me for simply asking who elected King Charles — my ordeal has opened my eyes to the plight of free speech and the right to protest in Britain, writes SYMON HILL
Behind headlines of bishops’ resignations and brutal abuse lies the deeper story of class privilege and power, as religious institutions face a stark choice between serving the elite or standing with the oppressed, writes SYMON HILL
Far right claims to be ‘standing up for Christian Britain’ are false and aimed at stoking up hate – but Christians must step forward and loudly speak out against them, says SYMON HILL
