Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
aka the First World War
They never talked about the war, the ones who fought and struggled through it Why speak of memories so sore? They never talked about the war but football, politics and more Unless the young asked them to do it, they … Read more
She didn’t say the war was won Instead she said the war was ended Fall silent now, the bomb and gun She didn’t say the war was won There’s future-building to be done Place and people to be mended She … Read more
Also published in Solidarity newspaper. One hundred years ago, on the very first Remembrance Day, 11 November 1919, the Daily Herald, a socialist newspaper, published this article on its front page. It was one year after the Armistice, and Prime … Read more
Also posted on the Workers’ Liberty website here. As 1919 began, working-class people in Britain and many other countries looked forward to leaving the Great War behind them and rebuilding their lives. They expected and demanded a better society than … Read more
Also published on the Workers’ Liberty website here. 11 November 1918 had been merely an armistice. The war would not be officially over until peace terms had been negotiated. The victorious Allied countries began six months of talks in … Read more
Also published on the Workers’ Liberty website. The ‘Great War’ was finally over. When it had begun in August 1914, the British government predicted that it would be won by Christmas, but it had dragged on for four more years, … Read more
In this three-minute video, Janine introduces the momentous events of 1919.
Lansbury’s parents were impoverished Jews from Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, and had fled to the East End of London to escape antisemitic pogroms and persecution. Some in the labour movement welcomed the Jewish refugees, but others … Read more
Published by The Clarion, 27 November 2018: The 1918 general election was the first to be held on a single day (14 December), the first in which nearly all adult men were entitled to vote, and the first in which … Read more
After the Battle of Waterloo, the British ruling class got in a bit of a panic about unemployed ex-servicemen roaming the country, worried that these ‘masterless men’ would cause trouble. A similar fear haunted Lloyd George’s Liberal-Tory coalition government after … Read more
Text of the George Lansbury Memorial Lecture, given on 16 November 2016 at Queen Mary University, London. I’m working on the assumption that most of you know a fair bit about George Lansbury but rather less about his daughter-in-law … Read more
Published in Solidarity 397, 9 March 2016 Once the Military Service Act come into force in 1916, men aged 18-41 had to apply to a Military Tribunal if they believed that they had a reason not to be drafted. The … Read more
From its declaration of war in 1914, Britain’s ruling class appealed to patriotism to boost its support and its military recruitment. By 1916 both were flagging. On the pages of socialist newspaper The Herald, poets used verse to question both … Read more
Hopeless force the Dardanelles Shells, death knells and straits to hell Terra firma, firmer terror History puts it down to error Wounded yet still predatory Terrorise for territory Ground of flesh and rocks from bones Lay out wire for telephones … Read more
Published in Solidarity 396, 2 March 2016. One hundred years ago this week, conscription came into force in Britain. The Military Service Act placed men between 18 and 41 years of age into the army reserve unless they were married … Read more
Published in Solidarity 394, 17 February 2016. As the First World War progressed, working-class people became more aware, and resentful, of those profiteering from their suffering. While men were wounded and died in the trenches, and men, women and children … Read more
Dulce et decorum est As Owen wrote, the ancient lie Inscribed upon the soldier’s breast And told to men when sent to die But tell me, for commemoration Below the flag that’s raised to fool us Did they really die … Read more
This article was published in two parts in Solidarity newspaper, beginning in issue 388 on 6 January 2016. Picture: My grandfather, Albert Henry Booth, who was in the Navy at Gallipoli, with his sister Victoria (Queenie). One hundred years ago, on … Read more
A century ago, with Britain at war, the Woman’s Dreadnought published this poem: CHRISTMAS EVE – to man the comfortable Hark, O, Hark the herald angels sing Glory to the new-born heavenly King! Come near the fire and closer draw the … Read more