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
Latest editorial
Cuts have consequences
There is mounting evidence that austerity is making us all less safe and tearing apart the fabric of our communities, writes DIANE ABBOTT
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
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
A STUDY released this week suggested a clear link between rising knife crime and the severe cuts to council funding — and in particular related to this, services for young people — that have taken place in recent years.
The study comes from the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime (APPG) of MPs and peers from across the parties, who looked at budgets for youth services from 2014-15 to 2017-18, and also analysed knife crime data.
These figures on youth service budgets were obtained by using freedom of information requests sent to 154 local authorities in England, of which 106 replied.
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The BBC and OBR claim that failing to cut disability benefits could ‘destabilise the economy’ while ignoring the spendthrift approach to tens of billions on military spending that really spirals out of control, argues DIANE ABBOTT MP
Labour is deliberately continuing Tory policies that cost us £38 billion more than they save while driving illness rates higher — despite the evidence that previous sanctions doubled suicide attempts, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
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
Britain’s best option after the new president is sworn in in January is to simply opt out of his warmongering and demands for military spending, and make our own trade deals independent of the US for once, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP