ANDREW MURRAY wonders what the great communist foe of Oswald Mosley would make of today’s far-right surge, warning that while the triumph of Farage and ‘Robinson’ is far from inevitable, placing any faith in Starmer in an anti-fascist front is a fool’s errand
NHS workers must strike now or the attacks will only get worse
It is time for all NHS staff in all unions, especially nurses, to vote Yes to industrial action during this ballot period, or further 'restructuring,’ marketisation and degradation of our health service will follow, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
NHS workers march from St Thomas' Hospital to Downing Street, London, to demand a pay rise. Picture date: 29/7/2020
LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government
KEVAN NELSON reports back from a delegation to the epic celebrations for the anniversary of Vietnam’s 1945 revolution, where British communists found a thriving, prosperous socialist country, brimming with ambition and well-earned national pride
Our economic system is broken – and unless we break with the government’s obsession with short-termist private profit, things are destined to get worse, warns Mercedes Villalba
Following the resignation of Nepali Prime Minister KP Oli amid mass youth-driven protests, different narratives have circulated which simplify and misrepresent the complexities and reality on the ground in Nepal at the roots of this crisis, argue VIJAY PRASHAD and ATUL CHANDRA
The US is desperate to stop Honduras’s process of social and democratic change, writes TIM YOUNG
CUTS and privatisation, caused by constant rounds of restructuring, have fragmented the NHS to the point that it is dying on its feet. This is manifested by the dangerously low levels of experienced staff which leads to patient neglect and premature deaths. The gateways into the NHS are being shut for tens of thousands requiring medical treatment.
The catastrophe unfolding across the NHS is no accident — it has been deliberately designed and implemented by successive governments — governments determined to reduce overall state expenditure on health and distance themselves from the historic obligation to provide free healthcare to the population.
Where the NHS is concerned, it serves no good purpose to erase history just because it might be politically convenient to do so. Understanding the whole history of the NHS, why it was founded, how it worked, how and why it is being systematically destroyed by stealth, is essential in the struggle to fight to preserve what is left of a free, publicly provided health service.
More from this author
As more people on the left are now questioning the sex industry, HELEN O’CONNOR reports from a timely fringe at TUC Congress where women on the front line gave their perspective on why prostitution should never be considered ‘work’
With fascists and their supporters cynically and falsely posing as ‘defenders of women,’ the left must take violence against women seriously and gain a better understanding of women’s oppression, warns HELEN O’CONNOR
As some celebrate a pay rise, outsourced, privatised workers face continued exploitation — ending this injustice by bringing them in-house must become a top priority for the labour movement, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
HELEN O’CONNOR sees a worrying trend of women exiting the labour movement in their thousands, and warns that if this tide is not stemmed with proper and effective action, it will only be to the benefit of the capitalist class
