Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
Medacs: how to make money from a run-down NHS
SOLOMON HUGHES illuminates the dark art of Tory trickery in the health service: cut public spending, then pay major party donors like Lord Ashcroft to fill the gaps with their private medical companies
READY TO STEP IN: Lord Ashcroft is all for privatising the NHS as the head of a private healthcare supplier
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
IF you want to see how politically connected privatisation firms make money out of the NHS, you can look over the latest accounts for Medacs Healthcare PLC, released at the end of July. They show how the NHS privatisers do well out of the NHS doing badly.
Its annual report tells us: “The group has identified Lord Ashcroft as the ultimate controlling party” of Medacs. Ashcroft “has influence” over half the shares of Medacs’ parent company Impellam, which he chairs.
Ashcroft is one of the Tories’ main donors, giving the party millions over the years.
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SOLOMON HUGHES details how the firm has quickly moved on to buttering-up Labour MPs after the fall of the Tories so it can continue to ‘win both ways’ collecting public and private cash by undermining the NHS
Customers will bear brunt of sky-high interest rates though increased bills, campaigners warn