Back Issues

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Established 1979
Free! Fortnightly! Fun!

These are the back issues of Red Rag. They'll be posted here every (usually) two weeks on or around the anniversary of their original publication. We're currently reissuing 1983; the latest issue is dated September 4th (scan / txt); the next one is due out on the 18th.

Red Rag, or Reading's only newspaper, had a noble tradition of misspelling, mixed metaphors, wrong facts, confused political judgements and a print run by now of 1250. It printed pretty well everything it got sent ("unless the Collective judged it racist, sexist, right wing, or supportive of oppressive religions"). It aimed to provide a decent alternative coverage of local news and issues from a radical non-aligned position; to promote subversive and creative initiatives; to provide a forum for unorthodox views; to allow some sort of co-existence between a huge variety of interests. And it was free.

In this accidentally renamed issue (scan / txt): one of the Greenham women goes home - rather than into hospital - to have her baby and the authorities respond with a court order removing him to "a place of safety". Margaret Small and her children, only black family on the street, are hounded out of their house and then declared intentionally homeless. The managers of multinationals make daily business decisions which have more impact on where people live; what work, if any, they will do; what they will eat, drink, and wear; what sort of knowledge schools and universities will encourage: and what kind of world their children will inherit; than those of the governments of the countries in which they live. But at least we know whether or not Arthur Scargill walks on water.