The Red Pepper round-up: 5 October

A new party of the left comes one step closer Salman Shaheen of Left Unity, the group supporting Ken Loach’s call for a new left party in Britain, reports from its first national meeting

Diary of a ‘wannabe MP’: local elections, UKIP and the left Davy Jones is Green Party parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown at the next general election and a member of Red Pepper’s board. This is the second of a series of regular blogs on his campaign

South Africa’s poor resist home attacks Amid Britain's decision to cut aid for South Africa by 2015, Caroline Elliot hears from poor shack dwellers who vow to resist the destruction of their homes.

Open House begins this weekend in London A nine-day event bringing together people facing the housing crisis across London to organise and take action around our collective housing needs

Call to protect Colombian human rights defender On 10 October 2012, a man pushed a gun into the chest of Alfamir Castillo and told her that both she and her lawyer were going to die.

Beyond the Fragments is more than history The book was part of challenging the left's methods of organisation, writes Alice Robson - and that struggle continues today as it is republished

Meet Red Pepper’s new co-editor, Michelle Zellers Michelle Zellers introduces herself, her reasons for wanting to be part of Red Pepper and her hopes for its future

Bedroom tax: Lessons in morality from Iain Duncan Smith Kara Moses reflects on the experience of protesting at the Tory minister’s mansion – and offers a glimpse of the luxury he enjoys while lecturing us about ‘fairness’

Reviewing the NHS – speaking ill of the dead Junior doctor Paul Teed says patient satisfaction surveys give an illusion of ‘choice’ in the NHS – but bad reviews don’t create more capacity or employ more staff

We need to challenge the myths that poison attempts at progressive change Hilary Wainwright introduces the first in a series of mythbusters produced by Class, in collaboration with Red Pepper.

The Brighton pay dispute: the union view GMB union organiser Rob Macey puts the workers' side of the argument

The pay dispute at Brighton council: a Green view Davy Jones, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown, gives his view of a dispute that has caused huge debate among Green Party members in the city and across the country

Jeremy Hardy thinks… about the right to exist 'We’d all say a person has a right to a home, but we wouldn’t say their home has rights.'

Back to the fragments Lynne Segal, one of the authors of the seminal 1979 socialist-feminist text Beyond the Fragments, reflects on its lessons for today

Turkey: A people imprisoned Once seen as a moderate party, the AKP government in Turkey is using anti-terrorism legislation to unleash a wave of repression against the left and the Kurdish movement. Tim Baster and Isabelle Merminod spoke to activists in the country