Robert Maisey is a Labour activist and shop steward for the RMT railworkers’ union. Between trains he reads about the short twentieth century at Birkbeck University.
The Algerian struggle for freedom from French imperialism was absolutely central to the political landscape of the twentieth century. We should remember its heroic history and honor its legacy today.
As Polish state socialism entered its death spiral, journalist Teresa Torańska interviewed the figures who had first created the regime after 1945. The resulting book gave retired Stalinist statesmen a platform to defend their actions — but also showed why their antidemocratic model of socialism could never have achieved popular support.
Labour’s election defeat reflected problems of messaging and strategy, but also a much deeper lack of organizational roots. Faced with a huge Tory majority, Labour MPs should use their platform to help rebuild our movement at its historic source — the workplace itself.