Durham Miners’ Association chair STEPHEN GUY speaks to Ben Chacko about the Reform threat, what’s needed from Labour and why the Big Meeting will never lose its politics
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Hartlepool’s heroes of the Spanish civil war
TONY FOX uncovers the story of Herbert ‘Avie’ Riding, one of five International Brigade volunteers from Hartlepool who fought fascism in Spain, as part of an annual commemoration of Teesside’s anti-fascist legacy
RED SOLIDARITY: Members of the International Brigade in the British cookhouse at Albacete, December 1936
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Andy Burnham’s message of hope will defeat Reform if Labour delivers the New Deal for Working People in full, says JOANNE THOMAS
General Federation of Trade Unions president and bakers’ union general secretary, SARAH WOOLLEY, guides us through the GFTU’s Summer School happening this week at Quorn Grange Hotel
The government’s latest asylum proposals abandon labour movement values and fuel division by aping Reform UK, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Can Andy Burnham’s programme deliver a productive economy – or merely a softer version of capitalism, asks VINCE MILLS
IAN LAVERY MP warns that decades of neoliberal policies have left former industrial communities behind — but a renewed Labour commitment to working people could change the political landscape
ON October 28 1938, as 300,000 Spaniards crowded the streets of Barcelona to bid farewell to the International Brigade, Major Sam Wild watched from a balcony as George Fletcher led the English-speaking XV Brigade in the farewell parade.
The 57th (British) Battalion marched at the front, followed by the 58th (Lincoln) Battalion, the 59th (Spanish) Battalion and then the 60th (Mackenzie-Papineau) Battalion took up the rear as they were the last battalion to be formed.
The men marched on a carpet of flowers under a shower of paper strips, and women rushed from the crowds lining the route to hug and kiss the marching men. Dolores Ibarruri (La Pasionaria) addressed the International Brigade volunteers, saying: “We shall not forget you; and, when the olive tree of peace is in flower, entwined with the victory laurels of the Republic of Spain — return!”
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Thousands of remarkable Britons left ordinary lives behind to join the struggle against Franco. Here is a snapshot of those who answered the call
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Driven by anti-fascism and anger at Britain’s policy of non-intervention, thousands volunteered to fight in the Spanish civil war. Historian RICHARD BAXELL reflects on their sacrifices and enduring significance
TONY FOX reports from a commemoration of the legendary Battle of Jarama in which four Stockton-on-Tees volunteers fell
TONY FOX invites readers to come and hear the story of the remarkable Liverpudlian International Brigader Alexander Foote