Israeli company Elbit, owner of recently occupied arms factory in Oldham, receives multi-million UK contract

Elbit Systems, the controversial arms firm with a factory in Oldham that supplies equipment to the Israeli military, has received a contract of over £100 million from the government to supply ‘battlefield technology’ to UK armed forces.

Pro-Palestinian protestors occupied the factory on Monday calling for a stop to its trade in military equipment used in attacks that kill Palestinian civilians.

Review: ‘Never Counted Out! The story of Len Johnson, Manchester’s Black Boxing Hero and Communist’

In this guest post, Bernadette Hyland reviews Michael Herbert’s biography on Manchester’s black middleweight boxing champion and communist, Len Johnson. When my parents moved to Clayton, a working class suburb of Manchester in 1963, it was a large sprawling council estate surrounded by engineering and manufacturing factories and dominated by two busy main roads, Ashton […]

Obituary: Manjeet Kaur – disability and human rights campaigner

Manjeet Kaur’s life is a story of extraordinary adversity and battles. She fought tirelessly and her work led to changes in policy and practice in several key areas. Manjeet Kaur died on Saturday 25 April 2020 in Manchester, aged 41 years. Human rights campaigner and activist Manjeet Kaur was born in Afghanistan in January 1979. […]

Supporting vulnerable communities in Manchester during the coronavirus crisis

Four organisations supporting vulnerable communities in Manchester speak of the difficulties they are facing in carrying out their work due to the coronavirus crisis Disadvantaged and marginalised communities in Manchester face hardships at the best of times. Organisations offering help to these communities usually top up government support with charitable contributions from the public. With […]

Leadership candidates lay out their visions for the future of the Labour Party at Manchester hustings

A lively hustings for Labour Party leadership candidates at Manchester’s Central Convention Complex last night covered a lot of ground including issues around: Brexit, housing, transport, political reform, the environment and antisemitism. The three contenders for the Labour Party leadership, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Keir Starmer, laid out their visions for the future of […]