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
Mick McGahey remains a giant of socialism
RICHARD LEONARD MSP looks at the life and ideals of the famous miners' leader and all-round champion of working-class politics
NUM President Arthur Scargill (left) and NUM Scottish President Mick McGahey in London, where they met with coal board chairman Ian MacGregor at the NCB's headquarters, March 6, 1984
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
TODAY is the 25th anniversary of the death of Mick McGahey. The occasion will be marked by a debate in the Scottish Parliament on his legacy.
This is fitting. In his very first year as the leader of the Scottish miners, he went to the Scottish TUC Congress and called for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in a federal United Kingdom.
In so doing he invoked the spirit of Bob Smillie and Keir Hardie, argued that the essence of socialism was the decentralisation of power, but decisively rejected “any theory of a classless Scotland,” citing the common bonds between the Scottish miners, the London dockers, the Durham miners and the Sheffield engineers.
More from this author
As bus builder Alexander Dennis threatens Falkirk closure and Grangemouth faces ruthless shutdown by tax exile Jim Ratcliffe, RICHARD LEONARD MSP warns that global corporations must be resisted by a bold industrial strategy based on public ownership
The super-rich falsely claim inheritance tax changes will devastate small farmers, while millionaire landowners continue enjoying numerous tax advantages — why is the SNP supporting this nonsense, asks RICHARD LEONARD
The 500 refinery jobs under threat at Grangemouth and underfunding in further education should be at the top of a new Scottish leader’s to-do list, argues RICHARD LEONARD MSP
The abolition of lay panels to decide on child hearings and the ‘lawyer-isation’ of the service will not serve vulnerable youngsters' interests, warns RICHARD LEONARD
