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For more than a hundred years, the British Labour Party has been the home of working-class organization and struggle. But has it ever truly been on the side of workers? Where do its interests really lie, and can it be relied on to provide a check on right-wing forces?
            A Party with Socialists in It addresses those questions and more, telling the story of the Labour Party from its origins to today, showing how at every turn it has struggled with the tension between the rights and demands of workers and a more centrist position. As Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership attempts to revitalize the party after the initial success of the Blair years turned into disappointment and disenchantment, this clear-eyed history could not be more timely.
 

A smart and succinct history of the Labour left

*A Guardian Book of the Day*

The defeat of socialist firebrand Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader in 2019 confirmed Tony Benn's famous retort 'the Labour party has never been a socialist party, although there have always been socialists in it.'

For over a hundred years, the British Labour Party has been a bastion for working-class organization and struggle. However, has it ever truly been on the side of the workers? Where do its interests really lie? And can we rely on it to provide a barrier against right-wing forces?

Simon Hannah's smart and succinct history of the Labour left guides us through the twists and turns of the party, from the Bevanite movement and the celebrated government of Clement Attlee, through the emergence of a New Left in the 1970s and the Blairism of the 1990s, to Corbyn's defeat and his replacement by Keir Starmer.

This new edition is updated throughout, with a new final chapter and conclusion bringing the story up to date.

Jointly written by five leading voices on the topic, this book looks at the contentious issue of antisemitism in the Labour Party today, and sets out ways of addressing the problem while maintaining the integrity of the organisation. The first part of the book includes original material on public beliefs about antisemitism in the Labour Party, and the kinds of problems this poses regarding voting intentions and demoralization of the membership. The writers then investigate the institutional problems and policy decisions that prevented a coherent and well-planned response from the party, and how Labour can rectify this today. The book progresses to explore in depth the coverage of the issue in mainstream media outlets, and the partial accounts presented to the public. The writers focus on the debates around the IHRA definition, and the accusations made against David Miller which were eventually dismissed and set an important precedent. At the end of the book, Mike Berry provides a helpful chronological account of the arguments surrounding this issue from the beginning of Corbyn's leadership to the present.