Cuban trade union federation CTC leader OSNAY MIGUEL COLINA speaks to Ben Chacko about life and work under a crippling US siege
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Brexit deal: the ‘three tests’ for public services
Rather than Keir Starmer's essentially pro-EU tests, KEVAN NELSON introduces the his own tests from a worker's perspective
A part of the British empire’s network of slavery, today the Caribbean island of Nevis faces a new form of exploitation in the form of crypto-colonialism, CLAUDIA WEBBE writes
A new book by Victoria Holmes illuminates the many hidden histories of the oppression experienced by Gypsy/Roma/Traveller community, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Even the oligarchs of the artificial intelligence industries are warning that their creations have the capacity for the ultimate destruction of the planet and its population. ANDREW MURRAY suggests that there might just be other solutions
The Labour government must deliver on its commitment to bring back privatised services into the public sector. This not only saves money but also creates accountability and generates wider social benefits, argues ANDY MCDONALD MP
Public ownership of Great British Railways has enormous potential to improve our railway network, but that can’t happen unless jobs, employee rights and union recognition is at the heart of the transition, argues MARYAM ESLAMDOUST
Challenges from the unscrupulous misuse of AI to steal actors’ voice and physical likenesses is being met with a firm union response, writes LYNDA ROOKE
Keir Starmer has famously set out his six tests that would have to be met for Labour to support an EU exit deal negotiated by the Conservative government.
The tests seek to mitigate against the assumed negative consequences of leaving the EU through calling for the preservation of a strong and collaborative relationship with the EU (test 1), the “exact same benefits” as we currently have as members of the single market and customs union (test 2) and the defence of current rights and protections (test 4).
It is notable that Labour’s support for a deal is contingent on it not diverging from the pre-exit status quo. None of the tests is framed positively, in terms of ensuring that the deal leaves the UK free to act outside the constraints and requirements of single market and customs union membership.
Starmer is only pressing the government in one direction — to stay as close to the EU as possible — and this could help the Tories to use the deal as a means of tying the hands of a future radical Labour government through the continued application of neoliberal EU-level rules and laws to the UK.
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