Category Archives: The Left

The Captain finds a new berth

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Sean Thompson

A few days ago I took part in the Founding Conference of a new party, Left Unity. The make-up of the conference was broadly what I was expecting; mainly men, largely over forty, mostly veterans of at least one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Left regroupment, Left Unity, The Left | Tagged | Leave a comment

Political architecture, (or draw the blueprints before arguing about the furniture fabric)

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Sean Thompson

My daughter is planning to build her own house in the next year or two – an exciting, if somewhat daunting prospect. However, when confronted by an empty piece of open ground and a blank sheet of paper, she’s found … Continue reading →

Posted in Left regroupment, Politics, The Left | Tagged , | 2 Comments

An open letter to the members of Green Left

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Sean Thompson

Comrades, An event in Manchester last month served to demonstrate to me the limitations of the politics of the Green Party. It was on the TUC demonstration in support of the NHS; a huge, cheerful and largely working class march, … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Party, Left regroupment, The Left | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

‘The foothills of reform’

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Sean Thompson

A quick look in the Telegraph today shows the direction of travel that the Tories want to go in. In an editorial entitled ‘We have only reached the foothills of reform’ the Telegraph says that ‘Although today is a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Austerity, Resistance, The Left | Leave a comment

The Times They (may be) a’Changin

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Sean Thompson

Over the past couple of weeks, three things have served to lift the gloom of an apparently endless winter in Tory Britain. First has been the first stirrings of what may well become a real wave of popular revulsion at … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Party, Left regroupment, Politics, The Left | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Orthodoxy and the Left

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Sean Thompson

A few days ago I wrote about how the SWP’s leadership, who endlessly go on about the need to ‘defend the IS tradition’, have over the years coarsened and stultified the organisation’s politics and practice to the point that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotes, Socialism, The Left, Theory | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

As soon as this pub closes

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Sean Thompson

Thanks very much to my old comrade Richard Kuper for reminding me of this extremely irreverent, but  detailed and devastatingly accurate overview and history of the British left from the late ’80s. He suggests that it is still relevant in … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Humour, Reviews, Socialism, The Left | Leave a comment