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
Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan revisited: will they, won’t they?
The proposed massive investment in a greener economy looked like a flagship policy — but it is already on shaky ground when Labour figures cannot make the most basic arguments for it, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer chairs a meeting with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves where he addressed 22 new local council leaders at the headquarters of the Labour Party in London, May 9, 2023
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
BACK in February, I asked: “Will Rachel Reeves really spend £28 billion a year on a Green Prosperity Plan?” It’s worth asking again because Labour’s most stupid rightwingers are beginning to rally against even this thoroughly centrist plan.
Reeves’s plan is, broadly, that a future Labour government will encourage the growth of greener British manufacturing, along with better insulation and other energy-saving measures, through a mixture of government and private investment, tax breaks and other incentives.
To get the plan off the ground, Reeves has to make the argument that investment isn’t a “waste.” If you own an asset, it isn’t the same as “spending too much money.” If you buy a valuable asset you still have your “money,” only it is now in the form of something that might help you, do you good, or even save you more money. It is OK to borrow to invest, as long as your investment is sound.
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BERNIE EVANS despairs of a government that is asking the crooks sucking Britain dry how to get the economy back on track
SOLOMON HUGHES examines how Labour has gone from blaming Tory deregulation for our economic woes to betting the nation's future on more of it
Instead of responding to changed circumstances by adjusting policy, Reeves is using fiscal ‘rules’ as an excuse to force government departments to make even deeper cuts than she had already flagged, says CLAUDIA WEBBE
Labour’s ex-banker Chancellor plans deregulation while City profits soar and customers suffer — between money laundering scandals and the exploitation of Covid loans, it’s clearly time to end this madness, says BERNIE EVANS