VINCE MILLS cautions over the perils and pitfalls of ‘a new left party’
It’s called poverty, Mr Blight
A short piece by TALLULAH COULTHARD, aged 10, about life as a child on universal credit
Tallulah Coulthard knows what it's like to have to use a foodbank
While much attention is focused on Israel’s aggression, we cannot ignore the conflicts in Africa, stoked by Western imperialism and greed for natural resources, if we’re to understand the full picture of geopolitics today, argues ROGER McKENZIE
LYNNE WALSH reports from last weekend’s moving remembrance of the International Brigades in London’s Jubilee Gardens where anti-fascists gathered to hear how even in the darkest of times we can build a vision of a better tomorrow, as the Brigaders fought to do 89 years ago
The government cracking down on something it can’t comprehend and doesn’t want to engage with is a repeating pattern of history, says KEITH FLETT
The electorate see no evidence of the government’s promises of change, and the good jobs and decent pay that people are crying out for. Bold action is needed right now, warns SHARON GRAHAM
Trump’s cruel Bill will deprive millions of essential medical support while escalating deportations and rewarding the super-rich, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
GOOD morning everyone, how are you feeling, said the headmaster, Mr Blight, as he walked into the assembly room.
Out of 10, how is your day so far? The crowd grumbled, a child put their hand up followed by a couple of more children.
The first child said: “When I woke up I was hungry, starving in fact because I have had no tea or breakfast for the last one-and-a-half weeks. My mum is poor and can’t pay the fees for school dinners nor packed lunches so I have to go to this place called a foodbank.
“My mum said it has helped a lot but we still don’t have the essentials because we can only get three bags a week.
“Oh didn’t I tell you? I have three little brothers and three big sisters! That makes seven of us including my mum so I only get a banana for lunch and by 1 o’clock I’m starving again, but mum says she can’t do anything about that.
“We are lucky that we have got each other, says mum. Do you know what that is called Mr Blight?”
“No,” he replied. She replies: “It is called poverty and that is what my family face every day. No-one should face poverty.”
Similar stories
It’s tiring always being viewed as the ‘wrong sort of woman,’ writes JENNA, a woman who has exited the sex industry
JANE WRIGHT talks to App Drivers and Couriers Union members and activists about their experience of biased apps, sexist customers and lack of toilet facilities while driving the streets of Britain’s cities
HEATHER WOOD tells the story of how she led the women of her mining community to tackle Christmas 1984 with militant working-class organisation and dedication, from cataloguing each family to collecting and distributing presents
MATT KERR argues that endless constitutional squabbles and feigned outrage over symbolic slights distract from real issues, as both SNP and opposition parties shirk responsibility for using the powers they already have