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
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Division has replaced vision in what passes for mainstream politics – and it’s the planet that’s losing out
Identity politics is a trap organised capital has set for the selfie generation, says ALAN SIMPSON
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
“WHAT we have on our hands is a species problem. None of us is exempt … People — communities, castes, races and even countries — carry their tragic histories and their misfortunes around like trophies, or like stock, to be bought and sold on the open market.”
(Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Penguin, 2018)
I spend my life trying to fix things. It’s a character defect. But it has struck me that “things” are not the problem. The problem is “us.”
Humanity faces a massive, existential, ecological crisis. If we were serious there are (still) numerous ways in which society can repair its soils, restore its rivers and forests, clean up the air, deliver food security and shift into clean, renewable energy systems.
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