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
A tale of two referendums
On September 18, 1997 only 25 per cent of electors in Wales actually voted for the National Assembly, by a majority of less than 7,000 of the one million votes cast and the result was honoured by all the major political parties. ROBERT GRIFFITHS wonders why the EU referendum deserves less respect
PRIDE OF PLACE: The Welsh National Assembly building in Cardiff
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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
ON September 18, 1997, the people of Wales voted on whether they should have a National Assembly. The referendum was held following the election of a Labour government pledged to campaign for a “Yes” vote.
The result was the narrowest majority — by 50.3 per cent to 49.7 — in favour of establishing the National Assembly of Wales.
However, the turnout was only a tiny fraction above 50 per cent of the registered electorate. This meant that only 25 per cent of electors in Wales actually voted for the Assembly, by a majority of less than 7,000 of the one million votes cast.
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In the second of two articles on Labour’s weak Budget, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that Britain’s massive private wealth and offshore tax havens show clear potential for radical redistribution through progressive taxation
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