Dave Kellaway
21 December 2020 · · Culture, Reviews, Uncategorized · 2 comments
“I will show your illustrious Lordship what a woman can do”
The Art and Life of Artemisia Gentileschi (1593- 1654) Dave Kellaway reviews the current National Gallery exhibition (until 24 th January) Caravaggio (left), Gentileschi (right) The pictures…
30 October 2020 · · Britain, Labour Party · 6 comments
Starmer suspends Corbyn - some initial thoughts
One stand out reaction to the news is that we were all blindsided. We really did not expect the Spanish Inquisition, writes Dave Kellaway . The right, the mainstream media, the left media an…
23 October 2020 · · Reviews · 1 comment
Prophet Prolonged....?
Dave Kellaway reviews Dan La Botz’s book, Trotsky in Tijuana , published by BookLocker.com, Florida 2020 Trotsky invites his young follower, Ramon Mercader, into his study to discuss an arti…
31 August 2020 · · Italy
Why Salvini could become Prime Minister of Italy
Dave Kellaway reviews David Broder’s, First they took Rome: How the Populist Right Conquered Italy , Verso Books 2020 “ There’s no left anymore’’ - Nicola, retired lorry driver; “ there is j…
3 June 2020 · · Our History, Reviews · 1 comment
The Living Flame
The Living Flame – the revolutionary passion of Rosa Luxemburg Haymarket books 2019 Dave Kellaway reviews Paul Le Blanc’s book Paul Le Blanc’s book is a very readable starter for anybody who…
22 May 2020 · · Britain, Covid-19 · 4 comments
We are not all in the same boat
Dave Kellaway analyses the fall-out of the pandemic in Britain and discusses what action programme for the crisis. This was written before the Tories' had to drop forcing schools to open on …
29 January 2020 · · Italy
Salvini pushed back but hard right remains strong
Regional elections in two parts of Italy, Emilia Romagna and Calabria were held on Sunday January 26. They were seen as posing a big challenge to the government if Salvini’s Lega (League, fo…
28 January 2020 · · Reviews
Orwell, Anti-colonialist, Anti-fascist …. Blue Labour?
Any writer dead for 70 years who has two popular TV shows which directly reference his work – Big Brother and Room 101 – must be of some importance both to national and international culture…
5 December 2019 · · Italy
Sardines against Salvini
A few weeks ago four thirty year olds from Bologna were complaining about the victory of Salvini’s hard right Lega (League) in the Umbrian regional elections and the danger of him winning th…
6 November 2019 · · Uncategorized · 1 comment
Sorry We Missed You… Don’t miss this film
If you take a look through the TV schedules for any particular week you will find a significant proportion of programming is so called ‘reality TV’, writes Dave Kellaway. These programmes ar…
1 August 2018 · · Italy
Salvini quotes Mussolini as hate crimes rise in Italy
Dave Kellaway reports from Italy on the danger posed by rise of racism and the far right following the recent elections. An Italian national discus thrower attacked and injured seriously in …
30 May 2018 · · Italy · 1 comment
Italian crisis –Neither the European Union nor a racist national sovereignty
Matterella’s risky move The racist Salvini could not have asked for a better speech writer for his upcoming electoral soundbites than the Italian president, Matterella, writes Dave Kellaway …
14 November 2017 · · Catalonia · 2 comments
Deadlock in Catalonia
The crisis in Catalonia is continuing, writes Dave Kellaway . The Spanish state has imposed the constitutional article 155 which allows the central Spanish state to take over all the regiona…
31 August 2017 · · Reviews · 1 comment
Words – weapons or straightjackets?
Dave Kellaway reviews Ian Parker’s ‘Revolutionary Keywords for a New Left’ (Zero Books, 2017} “It is that very familiarity with the same old language of the left, however, that is now part o…
29 April 2017 · · Labour Party, Tories · 2 comments
Theresa May - a strong and stable leader?
Dave Kellaway looks at how far Theresa May is from the image she tries to project: Theresa May = Geoffrey Boycott Theresa May confesses that the former English opening batsman, Geoffrey Boyc…
16 February 2017 · · Spanish State
Podemos votes against a moderate turn at Vista Alegre II
Dave Kellaway reports: "Las razones por las que nació Podemos no se han moderado, nuestras políticas no se pueden moderar" The reasons for the birth of Podemos have not moderated, so our pol…
6 December 2016 · · Italy
Five Lessons from the Italian referendum
by Dave Kellaway A thumping defeat for Renzi’s anti-democratic and pro-capitalist project. Renzi wanted to change the constitution to remove the senate and to centralise more power in his ha…
21 November 2016 · · Reviews, Spanish State
Politics in a Time of Crisis
Dave Kellaway reviews: Politics in a Time of Crisis : Podemos and the future of a Democratic Europe by Pablo Iglesias published by Verso Books One passage that made me sit up during Corbyn’s…
15 November 2016 · · USA
Trump as salesman
by Dave Kellaway Andrea Arnold has made a brilliant film, still showing in some cinemas called, American Honey about a group of young workers earning only commission selling magazine subscri…
23 June 2016 ·
Si se puede, Unidad Podemos surges forward in Spanish state elections
Dave Kellaway looks at the prospects for Unidad Podemos in the elections in the Spanish state on Sunday June 26: While we have been facing a confused referendum debate which has boiled down …
3 December 2015 ·
“Art is not the end but the beginning” “If my art has nothing to do with people and their suffering then what is art for?”
Dave Kellaway reviews of the Ai Weiwei exhibition at the Royal Academy London (until the 13th December) You see tons of steel rods intricately laid out across most of the floor area. They mi…
8 February 2015 ·
From Selma to Ferguson
Dave Kellaway reviews the new film about a key moment in the American Civil Rights movement. Movements of the oppressed and of working people have always treasured the names of the places wh…
7 January 2015 · · 10 comments
Solidarity with Charlie Hebdo staff
I lived near where the attack took place and, as an avid reader of Charlie Hebdo during my five years there, I felt sick in the stomach when I heard the news today coming out of Paris writes…
24 November 2014 · · 2 comments
Ofsted, Tower Hamlets and parental choice
Ofsted, the organisation responsible for inspecting schools in England, released seven reports on the same day which offered extremely damning verdicts on some education provision in the eas…
26 May 2014 ·
EU elections: Farage shakes it all about
Dave Kellaway examines the results of the European Union elections and the impact of the far right UKIP on the traditional pro-austerity parties. Despite a strong support for the far right, …
17 March 2014 ·
Peoples Assembly delegate conference – a step forward in the anti-austerity struggle
Bob Crow’s family sent a message of solidarity to the People’s Assembly conference on March 15th writes Dave Kellaway . They recognised that he was fully supportive of this movement. A truly…
19 February 2014 ·
Can you have sex with an operating system?
Computer love is coming soon Dave Kellaway reviews Her and dares ask the question that's on everyone's mind. Directed by Spike Jonze. With Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson. 126…
16 February 2014 ·
Italy - new faces, same austerity
Renzi (right) rescues Berlusconi Recently back from Italy, Dave Kellaway reports on the latest developments. Matteo Renzi is poised to take the baton from fellow Democratic Party (PD) leader…
17 December 2013 · · 3 comments
Chatting with an old Trot
Dave Kellaway reviews Conversations with Charlie Dec. 2013 pp192 available from Resistance Books for £6 including postage and packing As a 25 year revolutionary South African born Charlie Va…
29 September 2013 · · 1 comment
Italy - send in the clowns?
image no longer in the archive Giorgio Napolitano and Enrico Letta cling together Dave Kellaway describes the events that have led up to the fall of the Italian government and the shifts in …
7 April 2013 · · 2 comments
Italy, ‘politics’ is stalled but austerity continues and kills…
image no longer in the archive Driven to suicide by austerity Dave Kellaway reports from Salerno, Italy , Sat 6 th April, Two days ago Romeo Dionis 62, and his wife Annamaria Sopranzi 68, le…
27 February 2013 · · 8 comments
Italy: No backing for austerity but no political alternative either
The 'jaguar' really did bite the backside of the Italian political caste writes Dave Kellaway . Beppe Grillo was flippantly caricatured as that wild cat by a patronising Italian media. After…
21 February 2013 ·
Four things we should know about the Italian elections
image no longer in the archive Beppe Grillo, a sort of Italian Frankie Boyle. Italy votes next Sunday 24 th and Monday 25 th February in a general election after just over a year of the so-c…
6 February 2013 ·
After the collapse, Russia’s new capitalist wonderland?
Dave Kellaway reviews Elena , (Russia, 2011) Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev I went along to see this film on the recommendation of one of my Russian students. As the film opened with a nearl…
16 November 2011 · · 1 comment
Bye Bye Berluska, Ciao Super Mario the banker’s friend...
Berlusconi falls but the banks and capital continue in power and will step up attacks on working people. Dave Kellaway looks at the situation in Italy. Irony of ironies... Berlusconi came to…