The victories that followed the American civil war and the 1960s civil rights era are once again under attack, echoing earlier efforts to roll back equality and redefine democracy, says JOE SIMS
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Can charity change the world?
In 2010, faced with the closure of their local library, a Buckinghamshire town’s locals turned to an unconventional tactic – borrowing every single book – to defend a cherished community space. MAT COWARD tells the story
The indictment of Nicolas Maduro after a deadly US assault is just the latest phase in a long campaign against the Bolivarian government, warns FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
Journalist STEVE SWEENEY talks to Roger McKenzie about narrowly surviving an Israeli air strike last week while documenting the mass displacement of civilians – and explains why the real story goes far beyond the attack on him
After 27 years in Holyrood, the former first minister urged unity and respect — but, says NEIL FINDLAY, her time in power told a very different story
The Employment Rights Act 2025’s focus on individual rights forces workers into slow and costly litigation to assert rights, rather than empowering unions. A Campaign for Trade Union Freedom-Strike Map rally at the weekend called for a more radical sequel, reports BEN CHACKO
IN Marx’s day, solidarity, humanity, sharing amongst working people were not considered “charity.” Charity was something that those with money did. It relieved the conscience of the rich (and made them look good to their peers) and provided benefits to some. The name of Scottish-American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie can still be found on libraries and museums throughout Britain.
It’s hard not to cheer for 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore, who raised £33million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden. The money raised will help to save lives, not least those of NHS workers who like other key staff, are on the front line of the crisis.
But, as ever, there is another side to charity. Until recently Tom’s chosen fundraising platform, JustGiving, skimmed 5 per cent of all donations. That would have meant a bonanza to the company of over £1.5m for Tom’s efforts. That’s now been replaced by a standard fee of 1.9 per cent plus 20p — still over £300,000.
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The selection, analysis and interpretation of historical ‘facts’ always takes place within a paradigm, a model of how the world works. That’s why history is always a battleground, declares the Marx Memorial Library
From hunting rare pamphlets at book sales to online panels and courses on trade unionism and class politics, the MML continues connecting archive treasures with the movements fighting for a better world, writes director MEIRIAN JUMP
When privatisation is already so deeply embedded in the NHS, we can’t just blindly argue for ‘more funding’ to solve its problems, explain ESTHER GILES, NICO CSERGO, BRIAN GIBBONS and RATHI GUHADASAN
Labour’s fiscal policy is already in trouble. But simply printing money is not a solution, says the Marx Memorial Library and Workers School