LINDA PENTZ GUNTER reports from the one of 2,700 protests against the Trump government’s power grabs, on a day when seven million people defied fear-mongering in a outpouring of joy and hope in what might be the biggest protest in US history
Britain’s authoritarian spiral threatens press freedom
As Western liberal democracies crack down on journalists and activists, CLAUDIA WEBBE urges resistance against the Labour government’s part in this slide towards Saudi-style repression
Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his speech and press conference in the Rose Garden at 10 Downing Street, London, August 27, 2024
ALEX HALL interviews PAUL HOLDEN, whose bombshell book uses leaked documents to expose how the Starmer faction used systematic dishonesty to seize power and reopen the door to the corrupting ecosystem of corporate lobbying and sleaze
Our trust makes 3,200 home visits caring for 227 patients despite 198 Israeli checkpoints around Bethlehem; this compassion which transcends boundaries has lessons for the debate on end-of-life care in Britain too, writes FATHER GEOFF BOTTOMS
There is no chance of defending and renewing an NHS which is still savagely undermined by having to pay mark-ups of up to 23,000 per cent to Big Pharma — let’s take control of pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution, writes DREW GILCHRIST
The polling is looking good for the left’s choice, writes ERNEST WALKER, but there are farcical electoral oddities that are throwing up dangers to the campaign
Lewisham People’s Assembly organiser BEN WOODWARD reports on uproar in south London as campaigners condemn an ‘undemocratic stitch-up’ after the council waved through redevelopment of a vibrant shopping centre into ‘luxury flats’
KEIR STARMER’S authoritarian inclinations, highlighted a year ago by Peter Oborne and Richard Sanders, have become increasingly evident since his efforts to purge the left from the Labour Party.
These tendencies appear to be steering Britain toward a trajectory reminiscent of totalitarian and oppressive regimes, such as Saudi Arabia. This shift is marked by assaults on freedom of speech and journalistic freedom, both of which are essential to a functioning democracy and a healthy society.
In the first two months of a new Labour government, there appears to be a marked escalation in what was already a government war on journalists and on the right to protest, particularly relating to the environment and climate emergency and above all to Gaza.
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The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
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