Richard Price enjoys a tribute to a pioneering club at the Theatre Royal, Stratford. In 1938, Barney Josephson opened the first integrated nightclub in New York. Naming it Café Society in a barbed reference to the beautiful people and bright young things of the 30s, he later said that he “wanted a club where blacks… Continue reading Breaking down barriers: Cafe Society Swing
UK’s first Women’s Committee
Valerie Wise, former Chair of the GLC's Women's Commitee. The GLC Women’s Committee was established in May 1982, a year after Labour came to power. Labour had promised to set up an Ethnic Minorities Committee, but there was no such commitment for women. Women’s economic status, their caring responsibilities and their specific needs regarding public… Continue reading UK’s first Women’s Committee
Immigration detention
Over 400 migrants and asylum seekers attempted self-harm while held in detention in 2017 - the highest recorded number since government started to keep statistics in 2007. Published figures reveal there were 446 attempts at self harm in detention last year with at least 10 confirmed suicides. The Home Office often fails to publicise deaths… Continue reading Immigration detention
Arrivederci Roma?
One of the first fruits of the lash up between the far right League party and the supposedly left-leaning Five Star Movement is a proposal by interior minister Matteo Salvini for a census of Roma and the expulsion of thousands who aren’t Italian citizens. A leader of Italy’s Jewish community compared it to Mussolini’s racial… Continue reading Arrivederci Roma?
Is the Brexit squeeze worth the juice for Labour?
Nick Davies. It’s good to see the Tories tearing themselves apart, again, on Brexit, amid recriminations of secret meetings and broken promises but Labour cannot sit back, watch the fun and count the next election as already half won. Labour has to protect working class communities from the likely effects of a hard-Brexit and it… Continue reading Is the Brexit squeeze worth the juice for Labour?
It’s just history repeating itself
Editorial Board According to Marx, history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. The re-running of the culture wars of the 1980s within the Labour Party may be farcical, but they are certainly not funny. Then, the Labour Right was consistently on the wrong side of history, denigrating every attempt to… Continue reading It’s just history repeating itself
Labour Briefing Co-operative 