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
Not one step back: an interview with Dennis Skinner
In an exclusive interview, DANIEL POWELL speaks to the veteran left-wing MP about Brexit, Sports Direct, triggering Michael Heseltine, throwing shade at the Queen - and never, ever, making friends with a Tory
Dennis Skinner addresses Labour Party conference in 2017
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
AT Westminster’s grandiose central lobby, Labour’s longest continuously serving MP Dennis Skinner seeks a quiet place for our conversation.
Passing through a corridor, he indicates a doorway that was once a trade union room. The “Palace of Varieties,” as he calls his place of work, has changed since he first became MP for Bolsover in 1970. Settling for the cafeteria, he begins to recall his early days.
“I was the president of the Derbyshire miners, and I had been going down a few times to the headquarters of the NUM on Euston Road, so if it finished early I used to come in Parliament and see what was happening.
“One day they were having a debate on pay policy, so I came in for that, and John Mendelson, who represented Penistone in South Yorkshire, used to give me a ticket. I was under the gallery in those special seats, like it’s almost on the floor.
“I was eating a sandwich and one of the whips came to me and said: ‘You can’t eat in here.’ I said: ‘Oh, can’t you, I’ll have to do it quietly then, secretly’.”
More from this author
As Britain marks 80 years since defeating fascism, it finds itself in a proxy war against Russia over Ukraine — DANIEL POWELL examines Churchill’s secret plan to attack our Soviet allies in 1945 and traces how Nato expansion, a Western-backed coup and neo-nazi activism contributed to todays' devastating conflict
Daniel Powell speaks with IRVINE WELSH about writing, politics and rave culture
The former Greek finance minister for Syriza YANIS VAROUFAKIS speaks to Daniel Powell about Brexit, ‘techno-feudalism’ and how social media users could generate a universal basic income for all
Honorary CND vice-president BRUCE KENT speaks to Daniel Powell on the legacy of the peace movement and the Greenham Common era
