All the evidence shows voters want Labour to shift to the left — but initial signs from Andy Burnham are worrying on that front, cautions DIANE ABBOTT
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We must fight to defend the rights we had under the EU
In the face of Tory machinations under the guise of a 'review,' the Scottish government and trade unions are opposing any downgrading of our employment protections, reports CHRIS STEPHENS MP
We can be confident that if the Tories were intent on protecting workers’ rights, they would simply maintain those already enshrined in EU law — rather than ploughing ahead with a review and selecting what they want to keep
ANDY McDONALD MP says Labour must show it is capable of delivering real improvements in people’s lives — bold action is required
ANGUS REID and ANDREW JOHNSTONE report on an initiative that we must take this summer
ALLISON FEWTRELL on what Plaid Cymru's historic election victory means for the communities being failed by Wales’s housing crisis, and four things the new government can do right now
France Insoumise MP JEROME LEGAVRE speaks to Christophe Domec on building the Europe-wide peace movement that came together in the International Conference Against War last weekend
At last weekend’s International Conference Against War, LINDA PENTZ GUNTER talks to the Palestinian physician and politician about the struggles ahead to achieve a truly free Palestine
I AM finalising this column on Burns Day morning, a day when many Scots celebrate our national bard, Robert Burns. Rather fittingly, the issue of workers’ rights was to be debated in the House of Commons later on. An appropriate occasion given the bard’s radical instincts and his call for workers’ representatives and women to be elected to Parliament; a call made long before trade unionists and women entered the green benches.
I am also finalising this column just having received confirmation that my name has not been taken for the call list to speak in this debate — an innovation introduced due to Covid-19 restrictions. I will outline below some of the key points I would have raised if called.
Regardless of one’s own view of Brexit, it was always a suspicion that the Farages, Patels, Johnsons and other hard-right figures saw it as a vehicle to eradicate employment rights. Indeed, many of them said so.
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