THIS could be a decisive summer for the left: less than a year in, and the Labour government faces serious challenges in three areas it has tried to stick to the policies of the defeated Conservatives.

First and most urgently: Palestine. A genocide is accelerating before our eyes, and Britain remains complicit. But the government is under pressure as never before, the demonstrations for peace are only growing bigger and it has been forced into rhetorical condemnation of its ally. We need to push harder to turn that into real action to stop the massacre.

Then there is austerity. Reeves channels George Osborne, claiming spending cuts are needed to balance the books despite the visible ruin of essential services by 14 years of Tory austerity. But anger on the doorstep at the recent local elections and dismal poll ratings are leading to a growing internal revolt, one our mobilisation for the People’s Assembly No More Austerity national demonstration on June 7 is key to strengthening.

We are also in the midst of an industrial battle with far-reaching implications, the strike by bin workers in Birmingham. Government-appointed commissioners running the local authority make this, in effect, a dispute with government, giving it a national significance which is only underlined by the funding crisis affecting councils all over Britain — if cutting workers’ wages to cut costs is forced through in the biggest local authority of all, we can be sure this will be the model adopted by council after council.

We need to win these struggles, in the bitter knowledge that every Labour attack on the working class feeds support for a far right which routinely tops the polls and is no local problem, but part of an international trend looking to the US president himself as its inspiration. And the international right, as we know, weaponises the ownership and control of information to serve its ends: brazenly in the case of tech tycoon and X owner Elon Musk, but just as effectively through other giant platforms such as Facebook and a traditional media dominated by the ruling class.

For 95 years, the Daily Worker and then the Morning Star have been a weapon in our hands to challenge that. Today, as we cover issues like the above on a daily basis, we remain the only socialist daily newspaper in the English-speaking world, the only national daily which is part-owned by the trade unions (with 13 national unions and one trade union region represented on our management committee) and the only one which is a readers’ co-op — owned by, and answering to, yourselves.

And it’s that time of year again. At the heart of the paper’s democracy is the annual AGM tour, consisting of four meetings in different nations and regions of Britain so that we can engage with readers right across the country, and get a feel for the priorities of different areas.

Our first AGM leg takes place tomorrow, Thursday May 29, at 5.50pm in central London. Friday we’re in Glasgow (a hybrid meeting with the ability to participate online), Saturday Salford, and Sunday Cardiff (details at end). Any shareholder may attend one meeting only and has one vote, no matter the size of the shareholding: the rules of the People’s Press Printing Society co-op which publishes the paper are designed to ensure we can never be bought out by a rich investor snapping up shares, so we’ll never sell out either.

At the meetings you’ll hear from me, PPPS chair Bob Oram, business manager Jimmy Macintyre and assistant business manager Bernadette Keaveney on the paper’s political priorities and plans — including those for our growing video reportage and online activity, strengthening the paper’s roots in the labour movement and network of readers’ and supporters’ groups, and fundraising and finance more generally.

There are resolutions submitted by shareholders on our approach to pressing issues, from the rise of the far right to the “new world disorder” of the age of Trump, for discussion and voting, and we always look forward to the personal catch-ups with readers at each meeting as well. The AGM also elects the management committee, to which the business manager and editor report between AGMs.

So do come along. Attendance has been rising in recent years and if we want the Morning Star to play the role it needs to as a voice for unity and militancy across the left, we need the engagement and expertise of the trade unionists, activists and community campaigners who make up our uniquely committed readers.

The AGM should also be a springboard for another event that brings the paper together with its readers, our third annual Morning Star conference, which will take place at Bloomsbury Baptist Church in central London on Saturday June 14.

Tickets are on sale at tinyurl.com/RaceSexClass and are just £5 (£10 solidarity): Race, Sex & Class Liberation is the theme, and we will be discussing the rise of the far right, racism and imperialism, patriarchy and the war against women, and how we can build a united front against capitalism and war.

Speakers include leading trade unionists and peace campaigners, veteran left MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, and, excitingly, the leader of the largest women’s movement on Earth, the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) — Mariam Dhawale, coming specially from India.

AIDWA has played an inspirational role in leading opposition to India’s far-right government and the lessons from a country which has in recent years mounted the biggest general strike in history; the monumental farmers’ movement and its siege of Delhi; and spectacular women’s mobilisations such as the 400-mile-long Women’s Wall in Kerala to take a stand against patriarchy and chauvinism will be worth close attention.

So it’s the start of a busy month for the Morning Star, and one in which we want to see and hear from you. Join us at an AGM and join us at our conference. I look forward to seeing you there.

The PPPS AGM 2025 takes place at the following venues: Thursday May 29, LONDON: 5.50pm Hamilton House, London WC1H 9BD; Friday May 30, GLASGOW: 6pm STUC, 8 Landressy Street, Bridgeton, G40 1BP; Saturday May 31, SALFORD: 2pm, Working Class Movement Library, 51 Crescent, M5 4WX; Sunday June 1, CARDIFF: 3pm, Unison House, 18 Custom House St, CF10 1AP.