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
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Fragmented education sector, crumbling schools
The hotch-potch of local school management allows central government to pass the buck over the Raac concrete crisis, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan
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
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
THE key words in the schools concrete scandal are not “arses” and “fucking.” They are “responsible bodies.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan brought swear words into the heart of the debate when she was interviewed by ITV News about what the government was doing to stop post-war schools built with Raac “frothy concrete” from collapsing on kids’ heads.
After the interview Keegan blurted out a mix of four-letter blame and self-pity, saying: “Does anyone ever say: ‘You know what, you’ve done a fucking good job, because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing?’ No signs of that, no?”
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NEU conference urges Labour to fix school funding crisis by getting rid of academy bosses earning over £500,000
As the government moves to rein in academy freedoms, former darling of conservative education reform Katharine Birbalsingh cries ‘Marxism.’ Education columnist ROBERT POOLE examines how academisation has failed our children while enriching executives and empowering ideologues at the expense of democratic accountability
SOLOMON HUGHES probes the finances of a phoney ‘charity’ pushing the free schools and academies agenda