ANSELM ELDERGILL recalls the misjudgments, mishaps and moments of farce that shaped his years in legal practice
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Covid-19 crisis creates a compelling case to cancel local authority debt
Cancellation of councils’ debts would free up desperately needed resources amid this unprecedented pandemic, says MARTIN WICKS
The Communist Party of Britain’s Congress last month debated a resolution on ending opposition to all nuclear power in light of technological advances and the climate crisis. RICHARD HEBBERT explains why
Behind the cute names of Scotland’s road gritters lies a workforce underpaid and overlooked – a fitting reflection of a Budget that protected profits, bungled its rollout and offered hardly a glimmer of hope, writes MATT KERR
Commiserations if you failed this year, MAT COWARD offers six points which, if followed religiously, will ensure you succeed next year
In the final part of a serialisation of his new book, JOHN McINALLY explains how in 2018, after years spent rebuilding the PCS into a leading force against austerity, a damaging rupture emerged from within the union’s own left wing
PRABHAT PATNAIK looks at how the development of capitalism from the start divided the world into unequal segments
TAKING on more debt is not the only way to create spending power. Debt cancellation, for instance the debt owed by local authorities to the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB), would provide a huge increase in spending power because they would no longer have to repay loans or interest charges.
Last year local authorities paid around £4.5 billion to the PWLB in loan repayments and interest charges.
Overall, local authorities have around £77bn in debt held with the PWLB.
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