Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
Latest editorial
On International Nurses Day, commit to a 15% pay rise for our pandemic heroes
HELEN O'CONNOR says low pay is not just a slap in the face for those on the front line of the Covid crisis – it is part of the NHS privatisation strategy
Taking it to the top: nurses demand a proper pay rise at Downing Street
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
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
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
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
ON INTERNATIONAL Nurses Day it is important to recognise the central role nurses play in running front-line NHS services and to acknowledge that their struggle for decent pay is central to the battle to stop the cuts and privatisation steamroller that threatens to destroy free healthcare for good.
Nurses of all grades contributed to the pandemic response and in London there was such a shortage of trained and experienced nurses that NHS trusts were forced to increase the bank pay rates in order to ensure that wards and units could deliver care. Nursing care was in such short supply that some doctors stepped in to fill the gap left by nursing shortages.
Student nurses who have had the terms and conditions of their training contracts eroded over several decades without so much as a whimper of opposition by the trade union movement, found themselves thrown in at the deep end delivering life-saving care for free in ICUs and other coronavirus areas. The student nurses were sold the familiar line that gaining “pandemic experience” is a more important consideration than pay. The student nurses were also told that their families were not eligible for a death in service pay scheme even though they were risking their lives. Many became unwell and some, like Ade Raymond, died.
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With 121,000 vacancies and 44.8% of staff feeling unwell from work stress, the NHS 10-year plan will not succeed unless the government takes immediate action to retain existing staff, writes ANNETTE MANSELL-GREEN
MATT WRACK issues a clarion call for a rejuvenation of public services for the sake of our communities and our young people
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
RCN warns nurses are leaving the NHS due to shocking levels of racist abuse and understaffing