From London’s holly-sellers to Engels’s flaming Christmas centrepiece, the plum pudding was more than festive fare in Victorian Britain, says KEITH FLETT
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Remembering Grenfell, with a roar of pain
Four years on, and the battle for justice is still not won. But giving up is not an option, says former Kensington MP EMMA DENT COAD
Family and friends of the 72 people who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower block fire, outside Grenfell Tower, London, during a silent walk to mark the two-year anniversary in June 2019
Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
From a lockdown digital project to a vital tool for class solidarity, ROBERT POOLE and HENRY FOWLER reflect on half-a-decade of struggle
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
NEARLY four years ago I was sitting, rather shell-shocked as you can imagine, in the House of Commons, listening to then PM Theresa May committing to rehouse all survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire within three weeks. It was a brave statement.
I don’t doubt that she meant it at the time. But it simply wasn’t achievable.
And it was the first of many broken promises, commitments and guarantees made to the Grenfell community.
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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
MPs say ministers have 'heads in sand' on safety
