Mask-off outbursts by Maga insiders and most strikingly, the destruction and reconstruction of the presidential seat, with a huge new $300m ballroom, means Trump isn’t planning to leave the White House when his term ends, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
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Rent freezes are needed to avoid mass evictions
RICHARD BURGON MP warns that there is a real danger that the coronavirus crisis will turn the housing crisis into a catastrophe
BEN CHACKO speaks with Knesset member OFER CASSIF about rising political violence, the prospects for peace and his continuous ‘silencing by suspension’
The City is leaning on Rachel Reeves to cut welfare spending — when what’s needed is cuts to all the benefits given to the mega rich, corporations and banks to help them not pay or blatantly dodge their fair share of tax, explains BERNIE EVANS
The choice between two Blairites to revamp the tepid centrism of our ruling party doesn’t even come as cold comfort as we wander the city streets suffering from their third decade of austerity and the fifth of wage stagnation, writes MATT KERR
ANN HENDERSON looks at the trailblazers of the Women’s Trade Union League and their successful fight for female factory inspectors — a battle that echoes in today’s workplace campaigns
HENRY FOWLER puts the strike of public-sector workers in New Zealand in the wider context of deteriorating employment conditions throughout the world’s major economies
MAT COWARD looks back at a protest 105 years ago this month, whose reporting by the media bears uncomfortable similarities with demos today
OUR housing system has been broken for decades. Millions of people were struggling to pay the rent even before the coronavirus crisis, but many now face being overwhelmed by housing debt and the risk of losing their home.
After Thatcher’s neoliberal revolution we saw 40 years of insufficient council house building combined with increased marketisation of housing. Rents rose faster than wages, leaving private renters spending an average of 40 per cent of their income on rent. Access to long-term secure housing was pushed out of the reach of many.
The number of tenants who privately rent living in overcrowded conditions doubled in the last decade and, as with all of Britain’s social crises, black communities are especially affected and much more likely to suffer overcrowding.
All this meant that poor housing was already a public health concern. There are now even fears that areas with the highest levels of overcrowding could also have some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases.
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