Great Britain

Yearbook

    The Corbyn Moment: A Dialectic of Defeats
  • I. Defeat is an under-rated experience in political life. During the US Civil War, Charles Eliot Norton wrote on the ‘advantages of defeat’, noting that an early setback at Bull Run was not only deserved but needed: it corrected a bad strategy early enough for it to be rectified. As Enzo...
    The UK and the EU Referendum
  • Sometime before the end of 2017 – and most probably in 2016 – the British people will face a referendum on the country’s membership of the European Union. The referendum was a pledge included in the Conservative Party’s manifesto, prior to the May 2015 general election, most likely to head off...
    The First Months of a Long Struggle
  • On 12 November 2015, Leo Panitch and Hilary Wainwright spoke with Jeremy Corbyn on a train to London from Birmingham where he had been meeting with union shop stewards. 

Focus

    TWT 2019: The Left in the UK Aims for Transformation!
  • Supported by transform! europe once again, the fourth edition of The World Transformed (TWT), the most well-known and well-attended left-wing political festival in the UK, raised some very important questions for the left, acting as an example in terms of the methods applied. A report by Haris Golemis and Angelina Giannopoulou.
    A first reaction on the results of the European Elections in the UK
  • The electoral system  The UK electoral system for the European election was the D’Hondt system of PR which traditionally rewards the party receiving the highest vote disproportionately and this has again become the case with the Brexit Party only receiving 33% of the vote but almost 50% of the...
    Brexit – Touchstone for the Corbyn Leadership?
  • The decision of the Labour Party’s electorate to elect Jeremy Corbyn Labour leader for the second time within 12 months was a temporary victory for the left of the party and gives it a respite. Despite the continuous attacks against Corbyn after the shock outcome of the Brexit referendum, the new old new chairman has been able to strengthen his position in the party.
    United Kingdom
  • Results 2014 Turnout: 36 % UKIP: 26.77 % - 24 seats Labour: 24.74 % - 20 seats Conservatives: 23.31 % - 19 seats Green: 7.67 % - 2 seats Liberal Democrats: 6.69 % - 1 seat Sinn Fein: 0,66 % - 1 seatOthers: 6 % Correspondent: Dan Hough +++ Election Results 2009

Blog

    The UK’s Strike Wave: Where Next for Workers Struggles?
  • 2022 saw more strikes in Britain than any year since 2011 as workers continued to fight back against an on-going cost of living crisis that will see poverty, foodbank use, and homelessness hit even wider sections of the working class. The strike wave, which began last summer led by rail and postal workers, has not come to an end.
    “Enough is Enough” — Working Class Struggles in the UK
  • As Britain faces economic crisis at the hands of a right-wing Conservative government, it continues to be hard hit by Brexit, and is still reeling from the impact of the pandemic. With the Labour Party failing to mount any serious opposition to neo-liberalism, we are at last seeing the re-emergence of significant trade union-led strikes.
    Diary of a Pandemic Shop Steward 2022
  • When I last wrote a diary entry, it was the autumn of 2020. This was shortly before management planned to start bringing staff back to the office, despite my concerns about our workplace, not being Covid secure – but events intervened.
    Jeremy Corbyn is suspended from the Labour Party!
  • In the face of misreadings or wilful distortions of Corbyn’s response to the EHRC’s report on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, Hilary Wainwright sets out the accurate facts and argues that to implement the EHRC’s recommendations in a concerted manner and to be a united alternative to a Tory government, Corbyn’s suspension must be lifted.
    Diary of a Pandemic Shop Steward
  • After the death of my colleague and friend, I became the main trade union representative at my workplace, a small charity helping disabled people in Lambeth (London). As many other union activists across Europe, I am now involved in the struggle of workers to a safe workplace…
    Brexit Britain
  • The Labour Party was decisively defeated in the UK general election of December 2019. The most immediate result is that the UK has now left the European Union. Brexit however does not just mean leaving the European Union but it represents the victory of a global far-right phenomenon; Trump in the...
    Britain’s Political Crisis: Problems and Possibilities for the Left
  • The British political crisis continues, with the latest developments consolidating the hard right takeover of the Tory Party and Government that began with the Brexit referendum in 2016 and is now leading to the development of a potentially mass neo-fascist movement. This is taking place against the...
    Brexit: the back story
  • On 23 June 2016, the electorate of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar voted to decide if the country should remain a member of, or leave, the European Union. The referendum was a Conservative Party manifesto commitment in the general election of May 2015. The Prime Minister and leader of the...
    Brexit Crisis
  • Brexit is an enormous political crisis, and the UK is in parliamentary deadlock. At the moment, there is no majority either for leaving or staying. Repeated votes are taken on a range of options on a regular basis but only opposition to a No Deal Brexit has commanded a majority. A brief overview on the current developments follows.
    Brexit Chaos Averted - For Now
  • “I am satisfied with the Council’s compromise because a chaotic Brexit next week is now off the table. EU citizens in the UK and British in the EU can breathe a small sigh of relief. However, the problem remains: should the House of Commons reject the proposed Withdrawal Agreement again, then there...
    Brexit or Bremain?
  • In December, the conservative government ordered 3,500 troops to go on standby in case Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal. Plans originally published by Theresa May as a scare tactic, to force her MPs to vote the deal through parliament, are now being activated for real.
    A Kind Of Blue
  • Almost three months before the scheduled Brexit date (28 March), and while political passions run extraordinarily high, the shape and scope of UK’s leave from the EU seems to be more uncertain than ever.
    Strengthening Migrant Rights in Post-Brexit Britain
  • Post financial crisis, the most persistent scapegoats for many parts of society has been migrants and refugees. Used by mass media, politicians and common people alike, the problems of Europe have been condensed in the spiteful image of the ‘others’.
    Britain on the Way to Joining the transform! europe Network
  • The first issue of Britain’s new ‘Transform’ journal has been published and is receiving a great response: copies are flying off the shelves! Alongside its European counterparts our new journal aims to strengthen and develop the politics of the radical left – and this has never been more important in Britain than now.
    The UK after the EU Referendum
  • On 23rd June 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union – the so-called Brexit vote. On a turn out of 72.2%, 51.9% voted to Leave and 48.1% to Remain, thereby defeating the position of both Cameron’s Conservative government and the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. This was a hard fought campaign, with its fair share of lies and dirty tricks.
    Britain at a Turning Point
  • As the British referendum campaign on EU membership enters its final days, the tension and anger is palpable. Traditional fault lines in politics are breaking down as the divisions over Remain or Leave cross and re-cross through parties and movements where typically in a general election period sympathies would be predictable and tolerated.
    The UK and the EU Referendum
  • The United Kingdom's EU referendum, which takes place on 23 June, provides a challenge to the Left. It should be answered by a “remain” vote, together with the rallying cry for #AnotherEurope, a better Europe.
    A Victory for the Left in Britain
  • The victory of Jeremy Corbyn, elected as leader of the Labour Party, has shattered the austerity consensus that has dominated British politics for the last five years – and the neo-liberal consensus of the last two decades or more.
    Tories will continue to rule a less-United Kingdom
  • Against all predictions, conservative Prime Minister David Cameron was able to obtain an absolute majority in the general election held in the UK on 7 May 2015. It was a political earthquake of an election, for many reasons. The populist right-wing movement made clear that it was here to stay, while Scotland confirmed that it was swimming against the tide with even greater fervor than before.
    On the UK General Election
  • Britain’s general election outcome – a narrow majority for the Conservative Party – was unexpected. Polls and pundits had predicted a hung parliament, too close to call whether Conservative or Labour would be the largest party.
    Can a General Strike Happen in Britain?
  • Serious discussions are now taking place in Britain about the possibility of a general strike. In the light of Britain’s historical experience – and legal restrictions – is this a viable demand?

Publication

    Radical in Diversity: Europe's Left 2010-2020
  • This volume reviews the full breadth of discussions around the left project from 2010 to 2020, tracking developments within the left across Europe – edited by Amieke Bouma and transform! europe's Cornelia Hildebrandt and Danai Koltsida.

Calendar

    The World Transformed 2021
  • transform! europe's observer organisation The World Transformed (TWT) hosts an annual festival of politics, arts and music. TWT aims to create spaces for debate and exchange between grassroot activists, politicians, community groups, unionists and interested persons to address social movement’s most pressing issues.
    The World Transformed 2020
  • transform! europe's observer organisation The World Transformed (UK), that hosts the major political festival of the British left every year in September, goes digital!

Webinars

    On the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement
  • Why is the Good Friday Agreement still relevant to the left in Europe today? What can we learn from this peace process and the search for compromise in changing circumstances? These and other questions will be discussed in this webinar organised by transform! europe and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation.