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
The Barnet activists battling Capita
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
OUTSOURCING public services has time and again been shown to deliver poor quality at significantly greater expense, yet local authorities — particularly Tory ones — continue to contract out services, with predictable results.
Barnet residents have been fighting the Conservative-run council’s decision to outsource huge swathes of its public services to Capita for almost a decade — and are finally starting to see some results.
Barnet Council farmed out departments including highways, human resources and funerals to the notorious outsourcing giant under a decade-long contract worth around £32 million a year beginning in August 2013, despite huge public opposition.
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While the council can generate much-needed income with this new charge, making the city sustainable and affordable for its all-important workers needs a wider approach that’s not just focused on tourism, writes IAN MacCORQUODALE
With privatisation badly failing prisoners and staff, MARK FAIRHURST insists Labour must stick to its insourcing pledge and bring prison maintenance back in-house