There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Derby Silk Mill Festival – from 1834 to 2024
BILL GREENSHIELDS looks ahead to a lively event this weekend which draws the parallels of working-class struggle from the 19th century to today
A mural commemorating the lockout, painted in the mid-80s, on the side of the Silk Mill pub in Full Street by the Derby Community Arts Project
[Russ Hamer/Creative Commons] 
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
DR DYLAN MURPHY looks at a Big Brother Watch report which exposes the government as an enabler of DWP secret spying on benefit claimants
The EU faces a critical choice: will it remain in the shadow of an increasingly unreliable US ally, or will it forge its own path in a multilateral world where co-operation with China is essential, asks MARC VANDEPITTE as leaders meet for the EU-China Summit
A lot of discussion about how the left should currently organise – including debate on whether the Green Party is a useful vehicle for advance – runs the risk of refusing to engage with or learn from the reasons the left was defeated previously, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
For Egypt trade trumps the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, but how long can the country’s ‘misleaders’ – and others in the region – continue their indifference against the popular will of their own people, asks ROGER McKENZIE
DERBY’S Silk Mill Festival on June 8 commemorates Britain’s first organised struggle of industrial workers, the 1833-34 struggle of Silk Mill and other workers — the same years as the agricultural workers’ struggle in Tolpuddle. Both fights were against pay cuts and victimisation, for trade union rights and a decent life for all — fights which continue to this day.
Organised by Derby’s Trades Union Council & People’s Assembly, and Midlands TUC, a lively march will be led through the town by Deep Down Brass, an exciting and energising local band updating the tradition of marching brass bands.
This will be followed by a People’s Festival including trade union and community campaign stalls, lots of kids’ activities, food and drink, three live bands — Sura Laynes, 5 Hills Out and Bleeding Hearts — all hosted by Derby’s renowned poet Sophie Sparham.
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