|
Labour Party Defence Study Group
The Labour Party Defence Study Group was a grouping within the British Labour Party established in 1975 by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) under the chairmanship of Ian Mikardo. History The party was established at a time when Britain's defence policy was being increasingly criticised by anti-nuclear weapons activists who had recently been elected to the NEC. The final report of the group ''Sense About Defence'', was produced as a booklet in September 1977. It advocated a more left-wing view of Britain's defence policy, including: a reduction in nuclear bases and weapons, saying that no more should be commissioned, and argued for a reduction in Britain's military expenditure. However, it was ignored by the Labour government, which adopted a policy more pleasing to the centre-right of the party. By the 1980s, the party was more aligned with peace movements in Britain. In 1981, the NEC drew up a policy which pledged Labour to the closing down of American and British ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all general elections since 1922, Labour has been either the governing party or the Official Opposition. There have been six Labour prime ministers and thirteen Labour ministries. The party holds the annual Labour Party Conference, at which party policy is formulated. The party was founded in 1900, having grown out of the trade union movement and socialist parties of the 19th century. It overtook the Liberal Party to become the main opposition to the Conservative Party in the early 1920s, forming two minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in the 1920s and early 1930s. Labour served in the wartime coalition of 1940–1945, after which Clement Attlee's Labour government established the National Health Service and expanded the welfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Executive Committee Of The Labour Party
The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties (CLP), and socialist societies, as well as ''ex officio'' members such as the party Leader and Deputy Leader and several of their appointees. History During the 1980s, the NEC had a major role in policy-making and was often at the heart of disputes over party policy. In 1997, under Tony Blair's new party leadership, the General Secretary Tom Sawyer enacted the Partnership in Power reforms. This rebalanced the NEC's membership, including by reducing trade union membership to a minority for the first time in its history. The reforms also introduced new seats: two for local government, three for the Parliamentary Party, three for the (Shadow) Cabinet, and one fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Mikardo
Ian Mikardo (9 July 1908 – 6 May 1993), commonly known as Mik, was a British Labour Member of Parliament. An ardent socialist and a Zionist, he remained a backbencher throughout his four decades in the House of Commons. He was a member of National Executive Committee of the Labour Party in 1950–59 and 1960–78, and Chairman of the Labour Party in 1970–1971. He was also Chairman of the International Committee of the Labour Party in 1973–78, Vice-President of the Socialist International (1978–1983) and Honorary President (1983–1993). Mikardo was a Labour Member of Parliament for Reading 1945–50, Reading South 1950–55, Reading 1955–59, Poplar 1964–74, Bethnal Green and Bow 1974–83 and Bow and Poplar 1983–87. He was Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Nationalised Industries, 1966–70. He issued many pamphlets, the most famous were '' Keep Left'' (1947) and ''Keeping Left'' with Dick Crossman, Michael Foot and Jo Richardson, 1950. He was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first test of a fission ("atomic") bomb released an amount of energy approximately equal to . The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released energy approximately equal to . Nuclear bombs have had yields between 10 tons TNT (the W54) and 50 megatons for the Tsar Bomba (see TNT equivalent). A thermonuclear weapon weighing as little as can release energy equal to more than . A nuclear device no larger than a conventional bomb can devastate an entire city by blast, fire, and radiation. Since they are weapons of mass destruction, the proliferation of nuclear weapons is a focus of international relations policy. Nuclear weapons have been deployed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished. Left-wing politics are also associated with popular or state control of major political and economic institutions. According to emeritus professor of economics Barry Clark, left-wing supporters "claim that human development flourishes when individuals engage in cooperative, mutually respectful relations that can thrive only when excessive differences in status, power, and wealth are eliminated." Within the left–right political spectrum, ''Left'' and ''Right'' were coined during the French Revolution, referring to the seating arrangement in the French Estates General. Those ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peace Movement
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peace. Some of the methods used to achieve these goals include advocacy of pacifism, nonviolent resistance, diplomacy, boycotts, peace camps, ethical consumerism, supporting anti-war political candidates, supporting legislation to remove profits from government contracts to the military–industrial complex, Gun politics in the United States, banning guns, creating tools for open government and government transparency, transparency, direct democracy, supporting whistleblowers who expose war crimes or false flag, conspiracies to create wars, Demonstration (people), demonstrations, and Interest group, political lobbying. The political cooperative is an example of an organization which seeks to merge all peace-movement and green organizations; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruise Missiles
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of travelling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory. History The idea of an "aerial torpedo" was shown in the British 1909 film ''The Airship Destroyer'' in which flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London. In 1916, the American aviator Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, a small biplane carrying a TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and a barometric altitude control. Inspired by the experiments, the United States Army developed a similar flying bomb called th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament
__NOTOC__ Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find disagreeable. As a word, ''unilateralism'' is attested from 1926, specifically relating to unilateral disarmament. The current, broader meaning emerges in 1964. It stands in contrast with multilateralism, the pursuit of foreign policy goals alongside allies. Unilateralism and multilateralism represent different policy approaches to international problems. When agreement by multiple parties is absolutely required—for example, in the context of international trade policies—bilateral agreements (involving two participants at a time) are usually preferred by proponents of unilateralism. Unilateralism may be preferred in those instances when it is assumed to be the most efficient, i.e., in issues that can be solved without cooperation. However, a government may also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Cook
Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 when he was replaced by Jack Straw. He then served as Leader of the House of Commons from 2001 until 2003. He studied at the University of Edinburgh before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Central in 1974; he switched to the Livingston constituency in 1983. In Parliament, he was known for his debating ability and rapidly rose through the political ranks and ultimately into the Cabinet. As Foreign Secretary, he oversaw British interventions in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. He resigned from his positions as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons on 17 March 2003 in protest against the invasion of Iraq. At the time of his death, he was President of the Foreign Policy Centre and a Vice-President of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Kaldor
Mary Henrietta Kaldor (born 16 March 1946) is a British academic, currently Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, where she is also the Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit. She also teaches at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). She has been a key figure in the development of cosmopolitan democracy. She writes on globalisation, international relations and humanitarian intervention, global civil society and global governance, as well as what she calls New Wars. Career In 1981, Kaldor was a member of the anti-nuclear Labour Party Defence Study Group. She was a founding member of European Nuclear Disarmament, editing its '' European Nuclear Disarmament Journal'' (1983–88). She was the founder and Co-Chair of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, and a founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. She also writes for OpenDemocracy.net, belongs to the board of trustees of the Hertie School o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Soley
Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005, and has since then served as a Member of the House of Lords. Early life He went to Downshall Secondary Modern School (eventually ended up as Seven Kings High School) on Aldborough Road in Seven Kings near Ilford, then Newbattle Adult Education College in Newbattle, Midlothian, from 1961 to 1963. He did RAF National Service from 1959 to 1961. He went to the University of Strathclyde, where he gained a BA in Politics and Psychology in 1968, then the University of Southampton, where he gained a Diploma in Applied Social Studies in 1970. He was a British Council Officer from 1968 to 1969, then a Probation Officer from 1970 to 1979 for the Inner London Probation Service. He was a councillor on Hammersmith Council from 1974 to 1978. Parliamentary career Soley was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1979, firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Gapes
Michael John Gapes (born 4 September 1952) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South from 1992 to 2019. Born in Wanstead Hospital, Gapes attended Buckhurst Hill County High School. He studied economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he was Secretary of the Cambridge University Students' Union, and later studied industrial relations at Middlesex Polytechnic. He then served as chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students. Following an unsuccessful 1983 bid for Parliament, Gapes was elected as a Labour and Co-operative MP in 1992. He served as chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010. In February 2019, Gapes left Labour in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership to form The Independent Group, later Change UK, along with six other Labour MPs. In the December 2019 election, Gapes was defeated by Labour's Sam Tarry. Early life and career Michael John Gapes was born on 4 September 1952, the son of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_(8141325619).jpg "Click for more on -> Mike Gapes")