“Tribune is the organ of no political party and has no association nor understanding with any party” is the opening line of the statement of aims and beliefs in our first edition of January 1, 1937.

Tribune was founded as a voice for unity against fascism in Spain and Nazi Germany.

For more than 75 years our journalism has been based on internationalism, the search for economic and intellectual liberation and the love of equality and democracy.

Our wartime literary editor George Orwell laid out the Tribune standard for writing about politics in 1946:

Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. One cannot change this all in a moment, but one can at least change one’s own habits, and from time to time one can even, if one jeers loudly enough, send some worn-out and useless phrase — some jackboot, Achilles’ heel, hotbed, melting pot, acid test, veritable inferno, or other lump of verbal refuse — into the dustbin, where it belongs.

This kind of journalism is as important today as it was when Aneurin Bevan, Stafford Cripps and George Strauss founded Tribune in 1937.

Tribune campaigned for the ending of colonialism and imperialism, for nuclear disarmament and for the rights of women at work.

In Labour governments between 1964 and 1976, our wartime reporter Barbara Castle became, according to Michael Foot, our editor between 1955 and 1960, “the best socialist minister we’ve ever had.”

We believe the very word progressive needs to be reclaimed from the reactionary coalition of neo-liberals and career politicians whose venality and collusion with compliant media is corroding the democratic process worldwide.

Those who play roulette with national and international economies, who practice bigotry, racism or discrimination on grounds of age, gender, colour, creed, legal status, disability or sexual orientation will be targeted by Tribune.

Tribune is a not-for-profit fortnightly in hard copy and published every day online.

The editor is Chris McLaughlin.

Online by Andrew Rosthorn ros@poptel.org