A regional daily has launched a new podcast examining the impact a Trotskyist faction of the Labour Party had on its patch in the 1980s.

The Liverpool Echo’s series The Brink looks at the rise and fall of Militant, a group which dominated Labour in Liverpool during the 1980s.

The series is produced and presented by Echo journalist Julia Rampen, pictured.

The production is part of Laudable, a Google-funded project aimed at helping Echo publisher Reach plc along with JPIMedia turn podcasts and other audio content into a sustainable revenue stream.

Posting on Twitter, Julia wrote: “Really excited to see this become a reality. If you have a nerdy interest in left-wing mythology and/or the 1980s please listen.”

A piece promoting the series on the Echo’s website reads: “For years, Labour leaders have used the story of Liverpool in the 1980s as a cautionary tale of what happens when you try to be too left-wing.

“That decade saw a faction called Militant dominate Liverpool’s Labour party, control the council and take on Margaret Thatcher.

“But the 1980s was also a decade when Westminster tried to clip the wings of local government and inflict massive cuts at a time when Liverpool was already suffering from huge unemployment.

“In the first episode of The Brink, Julia Rampen looks at Militant, the faction at the heart of this battle, and the controversy that surrounds it.”