A 1936 confrontation with Mosley’s BUF became part of a wider international struggle, with local activists later joining the fight against fascism in the Spanish civil war. TONY FOX tells the story ahead of a 90th anniversary commemoration event
Labour denies it, but Reeves has brought back austerity
While slashing welfare and public services, Labour’s spring statement delivers a bonanza for death-dealing bomb merchants. We now see the true and terrible face of austerity 2.0, writes MICHAEL BURKE
Protesters show placards as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is about to leave 11 Downing Street to deliver the spring statement in London, March 26, 2025
Voters have delivered a stay of execution for Labour and exposed limits to Reform’s advance. But will Burnham offer a political alternative rather than just a different face at the top, asks ANDREW MURRAY
SEVIM DAGDELEN warns that Germany’s military resurgence and revival of old hostilities towards Russia have dangerous implications for Europe and beyond
MATT KERR takes stock of a night of by-elections, where the long repeated warnings for Labour and the political class remain stubbornly unheeded
Trump Is Building a Legal and Military Architecture to Invade Latin America. SARA VIVACQUA reports
Despite forming most of Britain’s trade union membership, women continue to endure harassment, inequality and minimal support for their sex-based rights, warns VALERIE COULTAS
WELFARE CUTS. Reductions in departmental spending. Job cuts in the public sector. But a boost to spending on the military.
These were the main elements of the Spring Statement delivered by the Chancellor.
Yet government ministers seem dismayed that they are accused of implementing austerity, pointing to rising spending in real terms. In reality, as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows, the average family will be £750 a year worse off by 2029, and 400,000 households will be pushed into poverty.
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The growing argument that welfare must be sacrificed for ‘security’ is built on nothing but myth, argues MICHAEL BURKE
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
The BBC and OBR claim that failing to cut disability benefits could ‘destabilise the economy’ while ignoring the spendthrift approach to tens of billions on military spending that really spirals out of control, argues DIANE ABBOTT MP
Under current policy, welfare cuts are just a small downpayment on future austerity, argues MICHAEL BURKE