High pressures squeeze and crush, but low pressures damage too. Losing the atom-level buzz that keeps us held safe in the balance of internal and external pressure releases dangerous storms, disorientation and pain, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

WORKERS at pub chain JD Wetherspoon joined crew from McDonald’s and TGI Friday’s and riders from UberEats this week for an unprecedented day of strike action.
It was a rebellion against low pay, zero-hours contracts, phoney self-employment and other abuses in the fast-food and service sector.
Earlier this week, one of the bigger meetings on the Conservative fringe, addressed by both Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey former work and pensions secretary and big man on the Tory right Iain Duncan Smith, considered the big question of “Is the Conservative Party making work pay?”

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

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