MARY DAVIS says the centrality of the Jewish community and the Communist Party to anti-fascism in the 1930s is too often overlooked on the left
If the ‘adults are back in charge’ we’re in deep trouble
SOLOMON HUGHES tracks down the dark and disturbing history of one of politics' most tiresome refrains and finds it has never meant anything other than war, neoliberalism — and the childish refusal to properly justify either
When centrists and right-wingers talk about the ‘grown-ups in the room’ they are either selling the idea of technocratic calm replacing immature demands for economic justice — or war.
A 1936 confrontation with Mosley’s BUF became part of a wider international struggle, with local activists later joining the fight against fascism in the Spanish civil war. TONY FOX tells the story ahead of a 90th anniversary commemoration event
GEORGE WHITE explains why Unite’s Lancashire area activists committee believes co-ordinated recruitment in an area defined by particular kinds of employment and linked by a major transport artery could provide a model for organising the unorganised
Voters have delivered a stay of execution for Labour and exposed limits to Reform’s advance. But will Burnham offer a political alternative rather than just a different face at the top, asks ANDREW MURRAY
Calls for a Universal Basic Income are a red herring, argues the Full Marx editorial team — socialists should fight for Universal Basic Services
SEVIM DAGDELEN warns that Germany’s military resurgence and revival of old hostilities towards Russia have dangerous implications for Europe and beyond
ONE of the more cringe current centrist slogans is “the adults are back in charge” — meaning that there is a sense of maturity being shown by the Labour and Tory parties converging on the same old market-oriented politics.
Centrists like talking about “the grown-ups in the room” bringing technocratic calm to replace immature demands for public ownership or more taxation of the rich. It is a shallow argument, and it’s also another case where centrists have been so scared of a touch of socialism that they ended up borrowing an argument from the right.
When Keir Starmer fans make the “listen to the grown-ups” argument, it is supposed to make them seem mature — as if they are one of the grown-ups who need listening to. But it has the opposite effect, making it sound like they are the child who, unable to get the other kids to play with them, is calling for the “grown-ups” to come and help them out.
Similar stories
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
ANDREW MURRAY looks back on the ignominious career of the former US vice-president, who died earlier this week
Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet
In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026