Aneurin Bevan, who founded the NHS in 1948 as health secretary in Clement Attlee's Labour government
MANY thousands of marchers in London and Tredegar this weekend are celebrating the 70th birthday of Britain’s National Health Service.
They are also demonstrating their support for securing a world-class service in every community, free at the point of need, and for the wonderful but overworked and underpaid staff who make the NHS our most treasured institution.
Make no mistake, those thousands in England and Wales represent the views and feelings of many millions of their fellow citizens.
But let us also remember that the NHS embodies the socialist principles of the Labour cabinet minister who fought heart and soul to bring the dream to its fruition.
Remembering the 1787 Calton Weavers strike, MATT KERR argues that golden thread of our history needs weaving into the fabric of every community in the land
The summer of 1950 saw Labour abandon further nationalisation while escalating Korean War spending from £2.3m to £4.7m, as the government meekly accepted capitalism’s licence and became Washington’s yes-man, writes JOHN ELLISON
The Gala’s core message of working-class solidarity offers renewed hope and provides the antidote to the anti-worker policies of Reform UK, argues IAN LAVERY MP
The historic heartland of anti-fascist resistance and mining militancy now faces a new battle — stopping Nigel Farage. ANDREW MURRAY meets ex-Labour MP Beth Winter and former Plaid leader Leanne Wood, the two socialists leading the resistance