LOUISE RAW talks to Sabby Dhalu, Kevin Courtney and Steve Wright about why we should all join next weekend’s march against the far right in London
Latest editorial
Grant Shapps, civil contingencies, and the right to strike
The latest plans to suppress industrial action are chilling. They are the hallmark of authoritarian government – and worse, argues Prof KEITH EWING
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps
DIANE ABBOTT says the socialist island has played an outsized role in the fight against racism worldwide — we must stand by it as Trump tries to choke it to death
GAWAIN LITTLE looks at the causes of the far-right resurgence and explains how the General Federation of Trade Unions is helping to combat it
As delegates from the north-east, Yorkshire & Humber meet this weekend in Durham, TUC regional secretary DAVE PIKE speaks to Ben Chacko about the challenges ahead
Prison Officers’ Association general secretary and TUC president STEVE GILLAN looks at what’s missing from the Employment Rights Act, and why we need further legislation
Militarism and war cannot be separated from ‘bread and butter issues,’ argues MICAELA TRACEY-RAMOS — opposing them is central to trade unionism
GOVERNMENT powers to deal with peacetime emergencies are contained in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Part II.
The Act applies to war, terrorism, and environmental disasters, as well as to “events or situations” which threaten “serious damage to human welfare.”
Although a strike could in theory cause the Act to be invoked (though it has never happened), emergency regulations may not “prohibit or enable the prohibition of participation in, or any activity in connection with, a strike or other industrial action.”
Similar stories
The unions are unhappy with the Employment Rights Act 2025 and with good reason. KEITH EWING and Lord JOHN HENDY KC take a close look at why the Bill promised more than it delivered
The Bill addresses some exploitation but leaves trade unions heavily regulated, most workers without collective bargaining coverage, and fails to tackle the balance of power that enables constant mutation of bad practice, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC
It is only trade union power at work that will materially improve the lot of working people as a class but without sector-wide collective bargaining and a right to take sympathetic strike action, we are hamstrung in the fight to tilt back the balance of power, argues ADRIAN WEIR
ANSELM ELDERGILL draws attention to a legal case on Tuesday in which a human rights group is challenging the government’s decision to allow the sale of weapons used against Palestinians