RED RAG (cover illustration)

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 1982; the latest issue is dated December 12th (scan / txt); the next one is due out on January 9th.

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 over 1000. 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 issue (scan / txt): the Rag talks to local reggae band Urban Warrior about music, race, unemployment, Rastafarianism, culture and politics; the article is bannered on the front page as "Black news". It is estimated that 2 million council tenants will be worse off with the introduction of the new Unified Housing Benefit; 400 local people sign a petition protesting the Home Office's planned deportation of local resident Shehnaz Sheikh; Raymond Briggs' "When the Wind Blows" is on the shelves at Acorn; and Thursday is a not a good day for pirate radio as that's when the Home Office get their overtime in.