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
Stark choices ahead
Should Reform gain a toe-hold in Scottish political life, the tectonic plates will have shifted an increment closer to the abyss, writes MIKE COWLEY
Reform UK CEO Nigel Farage during the Reform UK South East conference, at Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher, Surrey, January 10, 2025
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
IT’S ONLY weeks old, but already 2025 has been generous to a fault in providing ample evidence of Gramsci’s oft-quoted depiction of the interregnum between a dying social order and an uncertain future. Exemplified by the “morbid symptom” of the Trump/Musk axis, we are witness to “a time of monsters” and demagogues.
To say we live in dangerous times has become a mundane truism. So as the year unfolds, where can the Scottish left find grounds for an optimism of the spirit as the 2026 Scottish general election looms?
As reported in these pages, Reform is on course to win 13 seats at Holyrood next year. Polling data should of course be subject to a thoroughgoing scepticism. But the prospect of a rump of racist MSPs exploiting their Holyrood platform to sow hate and division should clarify the thoughts of the left’s broad spectrum. It is time for unity in the face of a far right growing in confidence.
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NICK WRIGHT examines how Farage’s party has attracted five distinct voter tribes with incompatible views on economics, immigration and state intervention — presenting both a challenge and opportunity for left organising
As polls show Scottish Labour’s support crumbling and Reform rising even among independence supporters, an urgent need emerges for an alternative based on public investment paid for by radical progressive taxation, argues VINCE MILLS
From the ports to the postal service, Swedish unions are outmanoeuvring Tesla in solidarity with striking mechanics — speaking to Tony Burke, IF Metall’s MARIE NEILSON explains that collective bargaining remains non-negotiable in Sweden
With the far right preparing for a ‘Pro UK rally’ in Glasgow in a few days’ time, we must get ready to mobilise, while also recognising that poverty and disaffection are playing their part in this alarming rightward shift, warns VINCE MILLS