MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
These strikes could be a paradigm shift
Despite the obstacles put in place by Thatcher and Blair’s anti-union measures, industrial action is growing and public support remains high. February 1 is our chance to bring about a leap in class consciousness, argues NICK WRIGHT
CORPORATE CONSORTS: Wes Streeting (left) and Keir Starmer sound little different to the Tories on the future of the NHS
President Maduro mobilises the 4.5 million-strong Bolivarian National Militia in response to US ‘threats’, vowing to defend the country’s sovereignty and independence, DEVIN B MARTINEZ reports
Washington plays innocent bystander while pouring weapons and intelligence into Ukraine, just as it enables the Gaza genocide — but every US escalation leaves Ukraine weaker than the neutrality deal rejected in 2022, argue MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS JS DAVIES
For those in the West, hunger is often just the familiar feeling of a growling stomach between meals — in Gaza, it has become a strategic weapon of slow, systematic and deadly destruction, writes MARC VANDEPITTE
After almost two decades of rule by the Movement Toward Socialism, once led by Evo Morales, right-wing parties have emerged in the lead after the first round of elections on August 17 and are now in control of the legislature, reports PABLO MERIGUET
DAVID MATTHEWS looks at what a collective future for welfare might have in store for us
THE current strike wave has caught the government on the hop. It thought public opinion would turn against strikers and it hoped the ballot thresholds might not be reached. It was wrong, has been wrong-footed and is being forced to make some concessions — at least in the form of talks.
There are elements of panic both in ministerial circles and among Tory backbenchers who fear for their seats in the next election. The government’s bid to force workers in key sectors of the economy and public services to provide a “minimum service level” on strike days is a transparent bid to blunt the growing wave of trade union militancy — and it failed, as the massive National Education Union ballot demonstrates.
The government’s new laws are most likely to be found in breach of its obligations to international treaties and flaunt the minimum standards set by the UN’s International Labour Organisation.
More from this author
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT
Deep disillusionment with the Westminster cross-party consensus means rupture with the status quo is on the cards – bringing not only opportunities but also dangers, says NICK WRIGHT
Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT
From Gaza complicity to welfare cuts chaos, Starmer’s baggage accumulates, and voters will indeed find ‘somewhere else’ to go — to the Greens, nationalists, Lib Dems, Reform UK or a new, working-class left party, writes NICK WRIGHT
