After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
Latest editorial
‘Peterloo for the EU’? Really?
Socialist historian KEITH FLETT is unconvinced by film maker Mike Leigh’s assertion that the Perterloo marchers would have been anti-Brexit
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
MIKE LEIGH has made an excellent film about Peterloo — but linking the sentiments of the crowd on that August day 200 years ago with views on Brexit needs to be done with care, if, that is, it can be done at all.
This is what Leigh tried to do in a recent Guardian article however. He wrote that “Brexit is the epitome of democracy under threat” — to which some might reasonably respond that this equally applies to Remainiacs who wont accept the democratic result of the EU referendum under any circumstances.
It does suggest perhaps that Leigh’s grasp of how to make a great film is rather greater than his knowledge of history and particularly how historical events might weigh on the present.
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It’s not just the Starmer regime: the workers of Britain have always faced legal affronts on their right to assemble and dissent, and the Labour Party especially has meddled with our freedoms from its earliest days, writes KEITH FLETT
The government cracking down on something it can’t comprehend and doesn’t want to engage with is a repeating pattern of history, says KEITH FLETT
The legacy of an 1820 conspiracy in revenge for Peterloo resonates down the ages, argues KEITH FLETT