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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The global left must get its act together and fight back
It’s easy to lose your sense of optimism amid bleak political times. NEIL FINDLAY has some suggestions for what we need to see in 2025
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during the Reform UK East Midlands Conference at the Athena Events Venue in Leicester, January 3, 2025
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
“HAPPY new year or so the refrain goes” … well, sorry, but fuck that!
As a socialist, I have always believed socialism and optimism go hand in hand — you have to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. If you don’t then you’d be better pulling the covers over your head and staying in bed for the rest of your days. But as we enter 2025 my lifelong optimistic outlook that believes a better world is indeed possible is at an all-time low ebb. My God, it is difficult to be positive just now: locally, nationally and internationally the political landscape is desperately bleak.
In our local communities public services have been hollowed out by 40 years of free-market orthodoxy and a decade-and-a half of savage austerity, budget cuts, centralisation, frozen council tax and the depoliticisation of local government. Social care is in crisis, youth work has all but disappeared, our roads and footpaths are in a dangerous state of disrepair and every council service is in a worse state than a decade ago. School class sizes are up, violence is at record levels and more than a third of children are regularly missing school.
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