Theory and the battle of ideas

Ukrainian Pacifist Movement graphic

The Ukrainian Pacifist Movement

In late April Yuri Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement (UPM), was listed as a speaker at an online meeting organised by the Socialist Labour Network (SLN).

The title of the meeting was: “Ukraine: Truth and Lies. Was the massacre of over 700 civilians at Bucha perpetrated by the Ukrainian National Police and the Safari Unit and Azov Battalion?”

The three other speakers at the meeting were:

Homeless man sitting by image of the queen

Why the labour movement must oppose the monarchy: articles and resources

Here is some material about the monarchy, its character, history and the history of struggles against it that we have published, republished or shared recently.


Speak out against the monarchy, by Sacha Ismail (September (2022)

"Used by the profit mongers to blind the people": Labour's founder Keir Hardie on the monarchy (from 1897, September 2022)

Saklatvala

“BAME Labour” erases Labour’s first MP of colour

The tiny, inactive and secretive BAME Labour grouping has been back in the spotlight, after Labour’s National Executive junked plans to create a democratic structure representing black, Asian and minority ethnic party members.

To give a flavour of this “organisation”, in 2018 it had less than a thousand members, out of an estimated 70,000 party members of colour. Yet it has representation on the National Executive.

Free movement protesters, 2019

The Morning Star against free movement

Keir Starmer addressed the CBI last week and said Britain needs to get off its “immigration dependency” and companies need to be weaned off “cheap labour” from oversees and to “start investing more in training workers who are already here”.

This marked a big shift in Starmer’s position: in 2020, while standing for party leadership, he’d championed freedom of movement and implied he’d continue to campaign for it even after Britain left the EU.

Stocksbridge Works team

Personal reflections on the World Cup

Stocksbridge Works football team in days of yore – definitely not heading for Qatar, more likely The Miners’ Arms.


It’s hard to think of a World Cup which hasn’t, at some point, aroused controversy, both on and off the pitch. "Politics and sport shouldn’t mix" is a standard response to this situation but one which is feeble, ignores reality and misses the point: it is inevitable that the world’s most popular sport should attract political controversy, particularly now that every word, every move, every gesture is conveyed around the world in a matter of seconds.

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