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
Latest editorial
Stopping the corporate takeover of the NHS
Via the Health and Care Bill, the Tories want to break up and sell off chunks of the the health service — but we can still stop them, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
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
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
THIS week the Tories voted to end the NHS as we know it, in one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation in my lifetime.
There can and should be further efforts to block the legislation in the parliamentary process. But we cannot rely on that being successful and should prepare for a campaign to oppose the self-off in every way we can.
The Health and Care Bill is in reality nothing of the kind. It is a corporate takeover Bill, which dismantles the national structures of the NHS in order to allow private companies, mainly US and British private healthcare companies to cherry-pick the services they want for profits. Inevitably this will mean worse service, high charges and/or health insurance costs for many and even bankruptcy for some.
Similar stories
When privatisation is already so deeply embedded in the NHS, we can’t just blindly argue for ‘more funding’ to solve its problems, explain ESTHER GILES, NICO CSERGO, BRIAN GIBBONS and RATHI GUHADASAN
Diverting public funding to grow private-sector ‘spare capacity,’ actively undermines the funding and staff available to the NHS and results in a worse service, write JOHN PUNTIS and TONY O’SULLIVAN
