With the death of Pope Francis, the world loses not only a church leader but also a moral compass
Latest editorial
Is the government finally going to remove a silent killer?
HANK ROBERTS welcomes news that asbestos has been judged too dangerous to leave in situ in schools and public buildings, and issues a clarion call to readers to help make sure action is actually taken
MAKING PROGRESS: A conference organised by Barking and Dagenham and Havering Trades Council November last year. This shows delegates holding up placards about the Cape asbestos scandal
LYNNE WALSH previews the Bristol Radical History Conference this weekend
Keir Starmer’s £120 million to Sudan cannot cover the government’s complicity in the RSF genocide or atone for the long shadow of British colonialism and imperialism, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Join the traditional march from Clerkenwell Green, which will bring together countless international workers’ organisations in a statement against the far right
Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place
We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
AT LAST! After more than a century of dissembling, downright lies and cover-ups, the government has admitted that asbestos is too dangerous to be left in schools and public buildings. It must all be removed and cannot be safely managed in situ.
With around 40,000 schools and educational premises, and with government research stating that an estimated 80 per cent contain the deadly asbestos, we know this is a massive task.
One of the people who has led this fight is Sir Stephen Timms MP who, in 2022 as the chair of the all-party parliamentary work and pensions committee, called for all asbestos to be removed from educational buildings within 40 years, starting with the most dangerous first.
More from this author
HANK ROBERTS warns that new research predicts a catastrophic rise in asbestos-related deaths among former pupils and teachers as school buildings deteriorate, bursting the ‘it’s safe if not disturbed’ myth
HANK ROBERTS looks at the Prime Minister's record and concludes Dawn Butler may have had a point this week
HANK ROBERTS writes that his own experience of exposing a headteacher who had misappropriated millions in school funds and then spending almost a decade trying to bring him to justice shows how inherently corrupt the academies system is
In the class war strategy must come before tactics — and that means we must focus on how we are going to fight austerity after Covid-19. HANK ROBERTS prescribes uniting all those who can be united
