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

IT’S an election year. From its earliest days the Tories, Labour and SNP have been in salesperson mode, making pitches to the electorate.
But the last months of 2023 have, through the eruption of a huge street movement for peace and an exodus of councillors from a Labour Party that backs Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, thrown up new questions about that election.
Have they put the left back on the map, I ask film director Ken Loach — who since his expulsion from Starmer’s Labour (for the very Starmerist offence of failing to condemn other people who had been expelled) has helped set up the For the Many network to maintain a socialist voice in politics.

Ben Chacko talks to RMT leader EDDIE DEMPSEY about how the key to fixing broken Britain lies in collective sectoral bargaining, restoring unions’ ability to take solidarity strike action and bringing about the much-vaunted ‘wave of insourcing’

Incoming Usdaw general secretary JOANNE THOMAS talks to Ben Chacko about workers’ rights, Labour and how to arrest the decline of the high street

Durham Miners’ Association general secretary ALAN MARDGHUM speaks to Ben Chacko ahead of Gala Day 2025