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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
The power couple of Teesside communism
George and Phyllis Short were working-class heroes, facing down all enemies to fight the class struggle — especially the British Union of Fascists. We should remember them better, argues local TONY FOX
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
I WAS saddened to see recently that the Battle of Stockton memorial unveiled in 2018 was partly obscured by a market stall, laying dirty and neglected at the foot of Stockton’s Market Cross.
The Battle of Stockton was the first and most significant action against the British Union of Fascists (BUF) on Teesside. It was a humiliating blow, so expertly delivered that the BUF never recovered nor developed locally thereafter.
The anti-fascist campaign on Teesside was led and organised by two people: George Short and his wife Phyllis. Short, the founding father of Teesside communism, was born in Chopwell in 1900 and so too Phyllis, in 1903. Short took up the only employment available, mining.
More from this author
The annual commemoration of anti-fascist volunteers who fought fascism in Spain now includes a key contribution from Italian comrades
TONY FOX reports from a Hartlepool event to commemorate those from the area who went and fought for liberty in Spain
TONY FOX uncovers the story of Herbert ‘Avie’ Riding, one of five International Brigade volunteers from Hartlepool who fought fascism in Spain, as part of an annual commemoration of Teesside’s anti-fascist legacy
An annual commemoration of those from north-east England who fought fascism in Spain is going from strength to strength. TONY FOX previews some of what will be on offer at the event