Author Archives
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Wilderness years for the Labour Left, by Paul Halas
By Paul Halas With the Labour Party once more appeasing the “Establishment”, can it still be home to left wingers? Like many, I’m one of those who has found the past year thoroughly dispiriting. Leaving aside Covid, these have been… Read More ›
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They drew the 20th Century
By Paul Halas Cartoons that were art. Growing up in a family that was immersed in the visual arts – chiefly in the form of animated films – it’s little wonder I had access to all kinds of books filled… Read More ›
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TV situation comedy – a Tory secret weapon?
By Paul Halas A favourite saying amongst Tories, not least the late demented Margaret Thatcher, is that the Conservatives are the natural party of government in the UK. Simply in terms of incumbency that statement is just about correct: since… Read More ›
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So you want to be a comic strip writer
Story-writing for comics By Paul Halas It’s surprising how often I’ve been asked how one becomes a comic strip story-writer. My first reaction is usually to try to figure out if the person asking me is a, just being polite,… Read More ›
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Rebecca Long Bailey’s wrongful dismissal.
There was no antisemitism: the troubling case of Peake, Starmer and Long Bailey By Richard House, Abdul-Karim Al-Malahi, Paul Kelly, Tosh McDonald, Alec McFadden, Andrew Samuels and Chris Searle** Last week the actor Maxine Peake conducted a 1,650-word interview that appeared… Read More ›
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Where’s your vision Sir Keir?
By Paul Halas The blame game continues. Meanwhile… While the general public and the media obsess about Coronavirus – both those who are terrified of it and the others who think the whole issue’s blown out of proportion – and… Read More ›
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Animation with a social conscience
Halas & Batchelor Cartoon Films 1940 – 1995 By Vivien Halas This year marks the 80th year since my parents, John Halas and Joy Batchelor founded Halas & Batchelor Cartoons, in its day a household name responsible for over 2000… Read More ›
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HOW DONALD DUCK SAVED MY LIFE…probably
COMICS – THE SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT By Paul Halas To this day there’s still an intellectual snobbery about comics in the UK, which is a shame as no other medium can communicate so well with so much economy. On… Read More ›
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THAT REPORT
A short appraisal by MERVYN HYDE As a baby boomer, born one month after the war in Japan ended and growing up in a working class family, I grew up along with the welfare state and the NHS. From the… Read More ›
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2015 AND ALL THAT
How we regained faith in politics By Paul Halas Jeremy Corbyn was a phenomenon. This relatively obscure politician emerged from the backbenches to lead the party five years ago, and almost tripled the Labour Party membership. Labour became the biggest… Read More ›
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MAKING SOCIETY FIT FOR CHILDREN
Challenging the Neoliberal Onslaught By Richard House I recently interviewed tireless childhood campaigner Sue Palmer for the Morning Star on her campaigning work for children’s well-being.1 Sue founded and runs the excellent Upstart! organisation in Scotland,2 is the author of… Read More ›
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Breakfast toad in the hole
A cracker from the renowned Circus Chef. “A bit of isolation cooking here. A breakfast toad in the hole and not one for the faint hearted. As we released the Giffords Circus cookbook a couple of days after lockdown began,… Read More ›
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Brave Green World
Can we look forward to a more sustainable future when the Coronavirus virus recedes? By PAUL HALAS For the first time in years the smog has cleared over San Francisco, Beijing, Delhi and Los Angeles. The criss-cross vapour trails in… Read More ›
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DEMOCRACY’S LAST NEWSSTAND
Was Labour’s 2019 Election Defeat a Grave – Even Terminal – Defeat for Democracy Itself? By Richard House Now the dust has settled over five months on from last December’s general election defeat for Labour and all the accompanying whirlwind… Read More ›
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Are Ofsted’s Days Now Numbered?
A new paradigm for school accountability and improvement is long overdue – and a judicial review against Ofsted currently being led by QC Michael Mansfield may well hasten the process. By Richard House In its manifesto for the December 2019… Read More ›
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COMING UP FOR AIR
By Paul Halas Why would a sane person go fishing? How many times have I been asked that question: what’s the big deal about going fishing? For the past few decades I’ve resorted to giving a glib answer slotted into… Read More ›