Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Pages from (or about) the past. Those who do not learn from its mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
Published in Solidarity 345: ‘From the Youth of All Nations’ reads to me as a bitter complaint against the ruling classes on all sides of the First World War playing out their arguments with the sufferings and lives of soldiers. … Read More
Published in Solidarity 335, 10 September 2014 From The Workers’ Dreadnought, 29 June 1918 A poem was found on the dead body of a German soldier. The British authorities reproduced it in facsimile and threw it from aeroplanes into the German … Read More
Published in Solidarity 337, 24 September 2014 The Workers’ Dreadnought published this poem on its front page, heading an article entitled “Soldiers ask what they are fighting for” on 20 October 1917. Britain was over three years into a war which … Read More
The third in a series of articles about the German socialist women’s movement 1890-1914 written in 2005 – originally published here. What is often seen as one issue – referred to at the time as the ‘woman question’ – actually … Read More
Written back in around 1993: Constance Markievicz and the other women who fought in the Easter Rising struggled to be accepted on equal terms by the Irish labour movement and among nationalists. Their experience holds many lessons for today’s socialists … Read More
The last in a series of five articles written in 2005 – originally published here: Divided loyalties Socialist feminists are continually accused of ‘divided loyalties’, challenged to declare which is our priority: class or sex. It makes a lot more … Read More
The fourth in a series of articles about the German socialist women’s movement 1890-1914, written in 2005, originally published here: Laws against women’s organisation After Bismarck’s Anti-Socialist Law lapsed in 1890, laws remained which restricted women’s political activity. The 1851 … Read More
The second in a series of articles about the German socialist women’s movement 1890-1914, written in 2005, originally published here. Education German socialist women placed strong emphasis on education. They set up education clubs for women and girls (Frauen- and … Read More
Introducing a series of articles on the German socialist women’s movement 1890-1914, written in 2005, originally published here. During the nineteenth century, the emerging workers’ movement began to develop its policy on the ‘woman question’. The early, ‘utopian’ socialists argued … Read More
Written for International Women’s Day 2007: March 8th each year is International Women’s Day. It is celebrated across the globe, and is a day for campaigners to draw attention to women’s continued second-class citizenship and need for equality. However, it … Read More
In 1921, thirty Labour Councillors in Poplar went to prison to protest at an unfair rating system that penalised poor boroughs. They eventually won their fight. Here are the parting messages from the Councillors (well, most of them, anyway) as printed in … Read More
As the Offshore Industries Liaison Committee prepared to become part of RMT in 2008, I compiled this collection of articles about its history.
Press release from Hackney Trade Union Council, 6 January 2004 London Underground has revealed that when the East London Line is extended into Hackney, it will not be a Tube line, but a privatised, mainline service. LUL’s Company Council was … Read More
These are biographical notes on the ‘Red Countess’, Constance Markievicz, prepared for the London Socialist Feminist Discussion Group on 10 October 2008. Also attached are two one-page files giving a timeline of her life. Constance Georgine Gore-Booth was born on … Read More
I drafted this several years ago, for a discussion at a Workers’ Liberty branch meeting on the first and second Labour governments. I found it useful to tell the story, then ask people to discuss some questions: the ‘timeline’ and discussion questions … Read More
CorporateWatch has an article, Transport for London seeks new powers with developers, reporting that “Transport for London (TfL) is currently seeking to team up with private sector partners to give it new powers, especially regarding land development, putting public land and affordable … Read More
US Labor Notes has published this review of Plundering London Underground.
The attached article was included in the Workers’ Liberty pamphlet Pink Pound or Red Flag? Socialists and the Fight for Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Liberation in 1995.
East London Central Synagogue, 30-40 Nelson Street, London, E1 2DE After very brief formal AGM proceedings, there will be two talks, including my presentation on Minnie Lansbury – East End suffragette, socialist, school teacher, champion of the victims of war, rebel … Read More