Trump’s escalation against Venezuela is about more than oil, it is about regaining control over the ‘natural’ zone of influence of the United States at a moment where its hegemony is slipping, argues VIJAY PRASHAD
We need 100,000 council homes a year not ‘affordable homes’
MARTIN WICKS urges Star readers to remind Labour of its primary housing concern
Evidence suggests Lammy’s proposals would come at a high cost: reduced fairness, diminished trust and greater racial inequality in the criminal justice system, argue TARA LAI QUINLAN and KATHARINA KARCHER
From the workhouses of the 1840s to today’s market capitalism, A Christmas Carol remains a sharp critique of charity rationed by class, says KEITH FLETT
The argument for a “significant expansion” of nuclear power will deliver soaring electricity prices that condemn underserved communities to unending hardship and poverty, argues LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The new plan sets out an uncompromising bid for global dominance, casting even allies as obstacles to be subdued, writes DIANE ABBOTT
As we approach the half-anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, the community gathers to remember loved ones while grappling with mixed emotions surrounding the ongoing deconstruction of the tower and the hopeful plans for a memorial, writes EMMA DENT COAD
LABOUR’S housing green paper Housing for the Many has a fundamental flaw at its heart. It says that a Labour government “will introduce a new duty [on councils] to deliver affordable homes.”
Instead of abandoning the risible “affordable housing” label, the party proposes to redefine it with “a new affordability standard with three elements.” These are:
- Social rented homes. “Homes for social rent will form the core of Labour’s affordable housing programme.”
- Living rent homes. These will have rents set at “no more than a third of average local incomes.”
- Low-cost home ownership homes. These will include first-buy homes where the mortgage will be no more than a third of average local income.
We have been told that a £4 billion annual housing grant would be available under a Labour government.
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GLYN ROBBINS celebrates how tenant-led campaigning forced the government to drop Pay to Stay, fixed-term tenancies and council home sell-offs under Cameron — but warns that Labour’s faith in private developers will require renewed resistance
Above-inflation rent increases will push council tenants deeper into poverty while failing to address the housing crisis — and it won’t really raise any money, as council rent arrears are doubling across the country, argues MARTIN WICKS
