Skip to main content
Don’t be fooled – the ‘culture wars’ over face masks are a trick
By focusing on cultural issues not economic ones, cultural warriors hope to portray the Tories as being the voice of ‘ordinary people’ and Labour as being a bit weird, warns SOLOMON HUGHES

WHEN it comes to masks in shops, we have a small illustration of how a “culture war” works, and how to fight it.

Some parts of the left have got very worried about the weapons the right waves about in a culture war.

A culture war is a US description of backlash politics that shifts the argument from economics to issues of “traditional” culture. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
COUNTING ON CHANGE: Ballot boxes are stacked on tables ahead of the count for the 2026 Senedd elections at The Arena, Venue Cymru, Llandudno on May 8 2026
Features / 23 May 2026
23 May 2026

With a political crisis engulfing the Labour Party, the case for PR is back on the agenda. TONY BURKE argues trade unions must now engage on changes to our voting system

DEFEATING JAPAN IS A PRIORITY: Eighth Route Army fighting on Futuyu Great Wall in Laiyuan, Hebei, China, 1938 / Pic: Sha Fei/CC
History / 13 February 2026
13 February 2026

In Part 4 of her look at the Chinese revolution JENNY CLEGG addresses the relationship between the Peasant Movement and the National Movement

Jeremy Corbyn, with Zarah Sultana (not pictured) speaking at a discussion on Your Party, their new political party, at The World Transformed conference, at Niamos Radical Arts Centre in Hulme, Manchester. Picture date: Friday October 10, 2025
Your Party Conference 2025 / 28 November 2025
28 November 2025

With ‘Your Party’ holding its founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, JEREMY CORBYN speaks to Morning Star editor Ben Chacko about its potential, its priorities — and a few of its controversies too

Re your message in #nujchapel:  If we website looks like shit, no-one is going to take us seriously, or be inclined to subscribe - that's why I think we have to prioritise the way it looks, especially when the site (editorial-wise) is largely working.  When it comes to the issues you mentioned to me the other day (word count, curly quotes, bylines), there are quick and easy work arounds for them (copy and paste text into BBedit, Word, Pages, wordcount.com, etc. Leave curly quotes, bylines, etc to the web de
Democracy / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

From Gaza complicity to welfare cuts chaos, Starmer’s baggage accumulates, and voters will indeed find ‘somewhere else’ to go — to the Greens, nationalists, Lib Dems, Reform UK or a new, working-class left party, writes NICK WRIGHT