Many shops in Bolsover, a Red Wall battleground in the general election, have closed down Anger and disillusionment. That was the dominant mood in Bolsover in Derbyshire, just east of Chesterfield. Bolsover is a “Red Wall” seat and a former mining village. Labour held it since it was created in 1950, with Dennis Skinner as MP for 49 years. But the Tories won the seat for the first time in the 2019 general election. The mining pit, Bolsover Colliery, closed in 1993. Bolsover is now a very different place to what it was a generation ago. A once industrial hub is now a quiet town. Up and down t ..read more

Marxist Robin Blackburn, author of books on slavery and capitalism (left). Hard right Tory Michael Gove (right) In his last major speech as an MP and secretary of state, hard right Tory Michael Gove last month chose to defend capitalism and empire.  He specifically targeted the pro-Palestine movement—and the student protest encampments—falsely accusing them of antisemitism.  But the speech was also an attack on all those that think slavery and colonialism are marks of shame that Britain should acknowledge and apologise for.  “The encampments, in their slogans, programmes and d ..read more

Prime minister Narendra Modi is on course for victory in India’s elections India’s Narendra Modi is on track to win his third successive landslide election victory, exit polls showed on Saturday, as the long election period ended. The results will be formally announced on Tuesday and the polls, released by various news agencies, have often been wrong in the past and are not impartial. But Modi was certain he had triumphed, insisting he was confident that “the people of India have voted in record numbers” to re-elect his government. One poll from broadcaster CNN-News18 forecast Modi’s ruling ..read more

Supporters of Tommy Robinson on the march (Picture: Guy Smallman) Nazi Tommy Robinson tried to relaunch himself—yet again—in central London on Saturday with one of the biggest far right marches in recent years. A motley crew of up to 5,000 far right and racist thugs gathered in Victoria and marched to Parliament Square. The lead banner read, “This is London—not Londonistan.” It’s a warning that politicians pushing state racism against refugees and Muslims could allow the fascists and far right to regroup and grow in Britain. Emerging from the Beer House pub in Victoria, the crowds started sh ..read more

Shaheen spoke to the supportive crowd (Picture: Guy Smallman) Around 600 people attended an angry rally in Highams Park in east London on Friday night in support of Faiza Shaheen. She was the Labour Party candidate for the Chingford and South Woodford constituency but was removed this week by party HQ on charges of unacceptable social media posts. There was nothing wrong with her tweets. One, for example, from a decade ago, simply liked a friend’s announcement they were a Green election candidate. The rally heard speeches from Mick Moore—one of Shaheen’s campaign organisers—Kevin Courtney, t ..read more

Family of Sheku Bayoh outside the inquiry with Aamer Anwar and supporters in 2022 Sheku Bayoh died in 2015 handcuffed in hospital with over 24 lacerations, cuts and bruises. After being restrained by six police officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife, his family believes he died from positional asphyxia because of unlawful tactics used by police. Following his death, the family fought for an inquiry, which will enter its final stages next week. It will determine if race played a factor in Sheku’s death. “We have always believed that my brother died unlawfully,” Kadi Johnson, the sister of Sheku Bayoh, t ..read more

Hundreds of protesters assembled outside Hampden Scotland national stadiums, Glasgow, on Friday, taking action during the general election in Scotland. They chanted, ‘Shame shame, stop the game,’ The Israeli women’s team was playing Scotland in a game behind closed doors. 1. We must make the election a referendum on Gaza  The election campaign will take place against the backdrop Israel’s genocide, which is being  committed with the backing of the British political establishment.  This week, The Ferret news site revealed that since 2015 the Scottish government has funnell ..read more

Students from the Palestine encampment in Newcastle occupy the Armstrong building The Newcastle university student encampment is continuing, despite the most intense police brutality on Wednesday. The police “shoved, groped, kicked, elbowed, strangled, punched, hit with batons, and threw to the ground” students, according to a statement by students involved in the encampment. This was after activists decided to escalate on Wednesday and occupy a university building after management refused to meet any of the camp’s demands. And management has been stringing students along with informal meeti ..read more

Economic Freedom Fighters national chairperson Zovuyo Veronica Mente voted in Northern Cape The African National Congress (ANC), the party of Nelson Mandela, is on course to slip below 50 percent of the vote for the first time as results come in from this week’s general election. On Friday afternoon, most political analysts projected the ANC would win around 42 percent of the national vote. But only two in three of the votes had been counted, and many of the big cities had not fully reported their totals. There is no doubt the ANC vote is down. And it would have slumped further had not the g ..read more

Jeremy Corbyn speaks at the official launch of his election campaign (Picture: Ken Muller) Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign as the independent candidate is underway with canvasing taking place across the Islington North this weekend. “The political system is sadly no longer offering the hope for so many people that it should,” Corbyn said at his official launch in north London on Wednesday. “I will be an independent voice for equality, democracy and peace.” Corbyn said he is “standing for democracy” because people in the constituency have been “denied the opportunity” to vote on their candidate. He ..read more