Stoke-on-Trent might be the centre of the political universe, but that isn’t to say tumultuous events don’t take place outwith the gilded city limits. And while by-election fever and an altogether unpleasant illness have gripped me, Donald Trump marked his first week in the Oval Office by unleashing a hurricane-level shit storm. His “temporary” travel […]
Posts under ‘International’
It’s time for the Left to take defence policy seriously
Jan 31st, 2017 by John Penney.The recent, empty point-scoring, hoo hah over the misfiring UK Trident missile test, and the flag-waving, posturing in Parliament and the mass media last year over the, up to £100bn, renewal of the Trident ballistic missile system, has highlighted yet again the ideological vulnerability of the Labour Left on defence issues. Quite understandably, the left, […]
Share:
Trump exempts British citizens from “Muslim ban” after pressure from UK
Jan 30th, 2017 by Newsdesk.Donald Trump conceded ground to opposition last night by exempting British dual citizens from his Executive Order, dubbed by many as a ‘Muslim ban’, which prohibits any entry to the United States from seven majority-muslim countries, namely, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya. After Theresa May instructed Amber Rudd and Boris Johnson to lobby their US […]
Share:
The battle for Mosul
Jan 30th, 2017 by Mike Phipps.Last week, I received the following email: “Dear Friends, As you might have heard, the American Coalition have been bombing civilian areas in Mosul. Over the past few days the coalition targeted 3 houses of well known professors and researchers in Mosul University. One of them was my college professor and mentor Prof. Dr Mohamad […]
Share:
Labour demands answers into Trident nuclear test ‘misfire’
Jan 23rd, 2017 by Newsdesk.Labour are demanding a “full explanation” of why Theresa May four times dodged the question of whether or not she knew about a calamitous failure on a Trident missile test last summer, just months before the House of Commons met to debate the controversial programme’s renewal. Andrew Marr asked Theresa May, “did you know the misfire of the […]
Share:
Developments on the European Left
Jan 16th, 2017 by Peter Rowlands.It is not altogether surprising that Corbyn’s intention to hold a conference of socialist and progressive parties to discuss Brexit, in London announced in February in October and December last year, has been met with little comment. He made the announcement to the PES which is the Party of European Socialists, an umbrella group of […]
Share:
Military action is not the answer for Aleppo
Dec 22nd, 2016 by Mike Phipps and Liz Davies.What is happening in Aleppo is a human rights calamity. It’s impossible to watch the footage without wanting to do something, immediately. That leads some on the left to surprising positions. Disrupting Jeremy Corbyn’s speech on December 10 did nothing to help civilians in Aleppo; it diverted attention from the important pledges he made on women […]
Share:
Brazil: Temer’s Terrible Ten Policies
Nov 23rd, 2016 by Patrick Foley.The last six months in Brazil have seen an immense upheaval of society since the removal of Dilma Rousseff. A spiralling corruption investigation, controversial impeachment, mass protests, growing strikes and an Olympic games held in Rio in the backdrop of an economic recession have led to a tumultuous year. Anger is running high at the newly […]
Share:
Whatever happened to Trident?
Nov 18th, 2016 by David Pavett.Among the reasons for concern that Labour has still not broken with its tradition of forming policy out of sight of party members, and with scant concern for their views, is the handling of policy on Trident. Our ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ became something of an iconic issue for the left and a subject where the left […]
Share:
The Implications of Trump
Nov 17th, 2016 by Bryan Gould.Americans are a funny lot. For them, it seems, celebrity trumps all. They have elected as President someone whose personal qualities and attitudes would disqualify him, in most democracies, from membership of a school board. But that is too simple a message. The Trump victory conveys a wider and deeper message – because Donald Trump got […]
