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
Matt Wrack: How to rebuild the fire and rescue service
The FBU general secretary, currently running for another term, speaks to Ben Chacko about what's needed to reverse 14 years of cuts – and decades of neoliberal deregulation
Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, speaks to the media, next to the Grenfell Memorial Wall in west London
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
MATT WRACK is running for re-election as general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. First elected in 2005, when Tony Blair was PM, he’s now on his eighth prime minister and recently completed a year as president of the TUC. But he’s still up for the fight.
“There’s still a lot to do,” he tells the Morning Star as ballots begin to land on firefighters’ doormats. “We’ve been through some tough times under all those prime ministers, we’ve come through it in one piece, and we have plans to try to rebuild the fire service, make Labour deliver on workers’ rights and repeal anti-union legislation. I think I’m the best person to see that through.”
Fourteen years of Tory cuts have hit the fire and rescue service hard. Response times are at their highest in 30 years. There are 12,000 fewer firefighters than in 2010 — a decline of a fifth.
More from this author
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’
Incoming Usdaw general secretary JOANNE THOMAS talks to Ben Chacko about workers’ rights, Labour and how to arrest the decline of the high street
Durham Miners’ Association general secretary ALAN MARDGHUM speaks to Ben Chacko ahead of Gala Day 2025
