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
Latest editorial
Remembering Graham Stevenson, titan of the labour movement
![Durham Miners' Gala 2026 [Pic: Neil Terry]](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/SSS_20260711_DURHAM_MINERS_GALA_0-21.jpg.webp?itok=NUVjowji)
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
GRAHAM STEVENSON was born in the mining village of Keresley, near Coventry, on October 28 1950, the younger of two children.
His mother Nora (“Dink”), who had been a textile worker, died tragically when Graham was 15.
His father, Ernest, was an engineer and a lifelong trade unionist, becoming AEU convener at Smiths Industries Coventry plant.
Similar stories
Thousands of remarkable Britons left ordinary lives behind to join the struggle against Franco. Here is a snapshot of those who answered the call
In part II of a serialisation of his new book, JOHN McINALLY explores how witch-hunting drives took hold in the Civil Service as the cold war emerged in the wake of WWII
The EIS president who defended Marxist politics in the 1980s fought Thatcherite educational policies while organising Teachers for Peace rallies and ensuring Morning Star circulation in Scotland’s pit villages and factories, writes JOHN FOSTER
Robinson successfully defended his school from closure, fought for the unification of the teaching unions, mentored future trade union leaders and transformed teaching at the Marx Memorial Library, writes JOHN FOSTER