The prospect of the Democratic Socialists of America member’s victory in the mayoral race has terrified billionaires and outraged the centrist liberal Establishment by showing that listening to voters about class issues works, writes ZOLTAN ZIGEDY
Does ownership matter? When it comes to social reform, does it matter who owns what? We have a negative example in the New Labour governments.
Tony Blair abolished Clause IV because he said public ownership did not matter for social reform.
New Labour governments did increase social spending, but not by public ownership. They thought “market methods,” contracts, targets, inspections and league tables would work better. The results prove they were wrong.
Private companies running social spending became Atos running welfare and firms like Carillion running PFI. A new think tank, Common Wealth (find them at common-wealth.co.uk ) are heading in the opposite direction. They are trying to discuss and design new, democratic forms of public ownership. Their work could be crucial to a future Labour government, so I strongly suggest checking them out.

SOLOMON HUGHES explains how the PM is channelling the spirit of Reagan and Thatcher with a ‘two-tier’ nuclear deterrent, whose Greenham Common predecessor was eventually fought off by a bunch of ‘punks and crazies’

Israel’s combination of starvation, coercion and murder is part of a carefully concerted plan to ensure Palestinian compliance – as shown in leaked details about the sinister Gaza Humanitarian Foundation which reveal similarities to hunger manipulation projects in Vietnam, Malaya and Kenya, says SOLOMON HUGHES

SOLOMON HUGHES reveals how six MPs enjoyed £400-£600 hospitality at Ditchley Park for Google’s ‘AI parliamentary scheme’ — supposedly to develop ‘effective scrutiny’ of artificial intelligence, but actually funded by the increasingly unsavoury tech giant itself

SOLOMON HUGHES details how the firm has quickly moved on to buttering-up Labour MPs after the fall of the Tories so it can continue to ‘win both ways’ collecting public and private cash by undermining the NHS