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
The NHS is a gleaming beacon of human achievement — we must protect it
With Parliament rising for the belated summer recess, the Conservative government’s final act of term has left a dangerous cloud over those of us who fear for the future of our NHS, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
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
THE Tories have repeatedly asked the public to simply trust, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, their promise that the NHS is “not for sale” in any future trade deals with the US. During the 2019 General Election, Labour obtained proof that the NHS was ‘on the table’ in secretive talks between Britain’s negotiators and US representatives.
Yet rather than take these worrying claims seriously, much of the media instead chose to allege that Labour was somehow colluding with Russian attempts to interfere with British democracy — an outrageously false distraction that must have left Number 10 spin doctors rubbing their hands in glee.
Last week provided the government with an opportunity to put these fears to bed, as Labour tabled an amendment to its post-Brexit Trade Bill explicitly stating that the NHS would be excluded from any future trade agreements. This was supported by more than 400 doctors and health professionals. Yet, rather than deliver on their promise, not a single Tory MP voted for the amendment — which was defeated by 89 votes.
More from this author
The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Israel’s monopolisation of ‘aid’ to slaughter Palestinians means there is no other option: direct international intervention now, says CLAUDIA WEBBE
With missiles penetrating the air defences to strike Haifa and Tel Aviv, Netanyahu’s transparent appeal to Trump demonstrates the Israeli underestimation of Iranian retaliation, and they are desperate to drag their allies in, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Starmer should not need to wait for the High Court’s decision on F-35 parts in order to do the right thing, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE
