A survey circulated by a far-right-linked student group has sparked outrage, with educators, historians and veterans warning that profiling teachers for their political views echoes fascist-era practices. FEDERICA ADRIANI reports
Latest editorial
No return to austerity — cancel local authority debt
Local councils — some of which now need four times the normal funding — must have their debts waived by central government, argues MARTIN WICKS
In reopening relations with China, the PM showed an uncharacteristic grasp of power, proportion and Britain’s diminished place in the world – a lesson many in Westminster still refuse to learn, says ANDREW MURRAY
Dockers from Italy, Greece and beyond will stage co-ordinated port blockades on February 6, declaring ‘we don’t work for war’ – in a call in solidarity with Palestine. ALFIO BERNABEI reports
The British Prime Minister’s Beijing visit marked the end of a long diplomatic hiatus and produced tangible, if limited, economic results, says KEITH BENNETT
Schoolchildren who joined a nationwide anti-Trump walkout learned more outside the classroom than in it but could still be penalised, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The suicide of Tamara Jade Logon after her disability benefits were wrongly withdrawn is the latest in a series of deaths in which coroners have cited DWP failings, exposing a pattern of preventable harm, says DYLAN MURPHY
A campaign initiated by the Labour Campaign for Council Housing calls for the government to cancel local-authority debt held by the Public Works Loans Board as an emergency measure to stave off the collapse of council services.
So far nine council leaders and five MPs have signed the statement. Cancellation would give councils £4.5 billion a year extra spending power.
The chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy warned of councils facing “a financial tsunami of reduced income and increased costs.” He was right. The financial crisis of local authorities is spiralling out of control as councils struggle to respond to the pandemic.
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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
LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government
Above-inflation rent increases will push council tenants deeper into poverty while failing to address the housing crisis — and it won’t really raise any money, as council rent arrears are doubling across the country, argues MARTIN WICKS
