by Kate Holman
LAST-minute talks on revision of the European Union’s Working Time Directive ended in failure in Brussels in the early hours of Tuesday morning, as a “blocking minority” of governments led by Britain rejected all moves to end the controversial national opt-out provision.
by Keith Richmond
TRADE UNIONS staged a series of marches on Tuesday to mark Workers’ Memorial Day. The RMT handed out leaflets to passengers to highlight concerns over the safety and security of rail workers and UCATT held a two minute silence in memory of all those who have died at work.
by Phil Chamberlain
THE Prime Minister has indicated that the Government is prepared to ban blacklisting.
Is Alice Mahon right to have resigned from the Labour party? Yes: 66% No: 34%
THE nation’s favourite Chancellor, Vince Cable, shared his thoughts at a pre-Budget meeting of Westminster insiders early this week, modestly revealing that, in spite of his estimable career background, when it comes to economics, he’s just a “bluffer”. Which may be true, since he was a special advisor to the Labour Government when the economy [...]
The Theatre Workshop Story by Howard Goorney
Methuen, £10.99
IN NEW YORK these were dark days. They were chucking themselves off the Empire State Building to the reverberations of the Wall Street Crash. The financial world’s jugular had been badly slashed and was bleeding all the way across the Atlantic.
Clear Red Water: Welsh Devolution and Socialist Politics
by Nick Davies and Darren Williams
Francis Boutle, £7.99
OH FOR the good old days when colour defined political parties by hues recognisable, clear and unambiguous. A certain fading has occured in recent years, a watering down occasioned not just by a glib whitewash drip from on high but by “events, dear boy, events”. True blue and radical red have both received the loving attentions of politicians groping for power while an increasingly sceptical and disenchanted electorate turns its back.
The Saturday Play: Road to Durham
Radio 4
DOUGLAS LIVINGSTONE’S Road to Durham, broadcast in The Saturday Play slot on April 18, was about Bevin Boys, the young men who were conscripted to serve their country in the coalmines during the Second World War, more or less when their names were drawn from a hat. Like military conscription, it affected compulsory recruits from all walks of life and their labours during the war effort contributed to the survival and success of the country during those terrible years of conflict.
A SENIOR local party official in the Erith and Thamesmead constituency has been sacked by Labour headquarters amid deepening rancour over the selection of a parliamentary candidate.
Bat for Lashes
Birmingham Town Hall
WITH her sell-out tour reaching a triumphant performance at Birmingham Town Hall, Natasha Khan, also known as Bat for Lashes, is becoming a major force in pop music. Gifted with exceptional writing talents and musical skills, which she has already demonstrated with her recorded work, she showed a remarkable vocal range and stage presence in captivating a capacity audience. Fronting a tight and rhythmically powerful band, she blended songs from her first album, Fur and Gold, and her second, Two Suns, to unstinting applause.