As the Stop the War Coalition holds its annual conference, ANDREW MURRAY warns that Britain’s alignment with US foreign policy is fuelling global instability and diverting billions from welfare, wages and public services
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Labour’s broken promises on austerity hit women hardest
As the government ploughs ahead with £3 billion in welfare cuts, arbitrary office-return mandates, and below-inflation pay rises, women will bear the brunt through deepening poverty and increased caring burdens, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
SPEAKING OUT: PCS president Fran Heathcote
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the tension between treating children as vulnerable dependants and recognising them as citizens with rights
The tightening of protest rights reflects a broader shift toward repression in Britain’s strained liberal democracy. Socialists and trade unionists must be ready to resist further attacks on our freedoms, warns JOHN McINALLY
Until ministers stop deferring to the market and start drawing hard lines, the public will remain at the mercy of private power, says MATT KERR
As the US intensifies its economic and political pressure it is now vitally important to demand the British government intervene to end US aggression, writes GEOFF BOTTOMS
SEVIM DAGDELEN argues that a legal framework exists for a closure of US and Nato military base in Ramstein
UNDER the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, cuts to pay, benefits and public services had a terrible effect on our society.
Austerity hits women hardest, because they get lower wages to begin with, take on more caring responsibilities within the family, and are more likely to interact with public services — both for themselves and for other family members.
If I take one example, the household benefit cap introduced by the Tories limits social security not on the basis of assessing need, but by an arbitrary limit that was imposed by Tory ministers. And the impact of that is nearly nine times greater on women than men — mostly because lone parents are disproportionately women.
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In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
Public and Commercial Services union leader FRAN HEATHCOTE warns the Chancellor not to take an axe to the Civil Service – and points to measures that would genuinely improve the public sector