Simon Butler

War on the Commons

Simon Butler reviews Ian Angus’s new book, The War Against the Commons, which vividly retells the story of how land that had been shared for centuries was privatised by force and deception in England, Wales and Scotland.

The primary inspiration for The Red Deal was the People’s Agreement of Cochabamba, adopted at the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in 2010, writes Simon Butler.

Simon Butler answers the "left" argument that progressives should support nuclear power as a climate solution.

Nuclear power plant waste

To cut greenhouse gas emissions we need to rapidly shift to safe, renewable energy. Nuclear power is not the answer, writes Simon Butler.

Andreas Malm’s call for minority violence is eloquent and sincere, but self-defeating, writes Simon Butler.

Climate Leviathan warns that a worldwide imperial state is on the agenda, but provides no credible arguments or evidence, writes Simon Butler.

Simon Butler reviews an important new book that argues gradual reforms can’t resolve the crises humanity faces today.

Indigenous scholar and activist Nick Estes’ book, Our History is the Future, provides a vivid account of the movement to halt Dakota Access Pipeline, writes Simon Butler.

Two decades ago, barely anyone called themselves an ecosocialist. Yet today the term is widespread on the left.

This comes from an awareness that any viable alternative to capitalism must do away with the current destructive relationship between human society and the wider natural world. It also stems from a recognition that too many socialists in the 20th century failed to take environmental issues seriously.

Few would have predicted, until recent times, that the biggest act at the Glastonbury music festival would be a 68-year-old socialist reciting a 200-year-old poem.

Yet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s June 24 speech at Glastonbury attracted what was likely the largest crowd in the festival’s history, NME said.

The recent British general election delivered very different results in Scotland than those of England and Wales.

While the question of Scottish independence was still a major issue for voters, tactical errors by the Scottish National Party (SNP) and a muted Jeremy Corbyn-effect in Scottish Labour’s favour led to some unforeseen outcomes.

After promising for months that she’d never call an early election, Tory Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election in April — fully expecting to be returned with a thumping Conservative majority.