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
DURING the early days of the pandemic in March 2020, the Home Office suspended evictions of destitute refused asylum-seekers in line with the urgent direction to local authority’s homelessness services to bring “everyone in.”
But only six months later in September 2020, during the “second wave” of Covid-19, the Home Office announced its plan to restart evictions of those asylum-seekers whose applications have been denied and who don’t agree to leave.
Charities and human rights campaigners condemned the decision as inhumane and warned it could result in rough sleeping and sofa surfing and, as a consequence, a rise in coronavirus cases.
Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES



