Trump’s escalation against Venezuela is about more than oil, it is about regaining control over the ‘natural’ zone of influence of the United States at a moment where its hegemony is slipping, argues VIJAY PRASHAD
Brave political decisions needed
Properly funded public services are good for the economy as a whole, says KATE RAMSDEN
Evidence suggests Lammy’s proposals would come at a high cost: reduced fairness, diminished trust and greater racial inequality in the criminal justice system, argue TARA LAI QUINLAN and KATHARINA KARCHER
From the workhouses of the 1840s to today’s market capitalism, A Christmas Carol remains a sharp critique of charity rationed by class, says KEITH FLETT
The argument for a “significant expansion” of nuclear power will deliver soaring electricity prices that condemn underserved communities to unending hardship and poverty, argues LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The new plan sets out an uncompromising bid for global dominance, casting even allies as obstacles to be subdued, writes DIANE ABBOTT
As we approach the half-anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, the community gathers to remember loved ones while grappling with mixed emotions surrounding the ongoing deconstruction of the tower and the hopeful plans for a memorial, writes EMMA DENT COAD
ALTHOUGH I share the Morning Star’s scepticism about whether Labour’s manifesto commitment, A New Deal for Working People, will ever become a reality, I have to admit a little frisson of delight when I read: “Boosting people’s incomes is not just the right thing for them — it is the right thing for the economy.”
Why? Because I have been banging on for many years now, to anyone who will listen, about the need to change the economic narrative — both around workers’ pay and public services. It is still the case that despite years of austerity, many of our members and much of the general public, while increasingly more sympathetic, see pay rises for our members, and especially those in the public sector, as a drain on the economy and therefore unaffordable.
Similarly, although the public are generally positive about public services — a Survation poll in 2022 showed a high level of trust in public services — they can’t get their head around the fact that, rather than a drain, public services are a key lever for economic growth. Because that is not the prevailing narrative. It’s not what this UK government of the rich wants us to see.
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As we face savage cuts to our pay and conditions while the executive gravy train chugs on, Unite is putting the Scottish government on notice as workers prepare for a massive wave of resistance, writes DEREK THOMSON
In his first of a new monthly economics column MICHAEL BURKE argues that public-sector investment is more effective, more productive than private-sector investment