The proxy war in Ukraine is heading to a denouement with the US and Russia dividing the spoils while the European powers stand bewildered by events they have been wilfully blind to, says KEVIN OVENDEN
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
One can only imagine what would happen if 2.2 million Palestinian refugees were pushed into Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries, per Trump’s proposal, writes RAMZY BAROUD
This is the most anti-migrant government in decades, argues RAVISHAAN RAHEL MUTHIAH
VICTOR GROSSMAN reports, with a little chuckle, on how US readiness to work with Russia, not just on peace for Ukraine, has thrown a spanner into the German electoral machine
SOLOMON HUGHES probes the finances of a phoney ‘charity’ pushing the free schools and academies agenda
Freedom now for former PM Mir-Hossein Mousavi and other political prisoners
VIJAY PRASHAD examines why in 2018 Washington started to take an increasingly belligerent stance towards ‘near peer rivals’ – Russa and China – with far-reaching geopolitical effects
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.
More from this author
Labour’s about to shift cost of new housing onto tenants, writes MARTIN WICKS arguing instead for cancelling the councils' HRA debt
MARTIN WICKS argues that the government’s reduced discounts for council house purchases don’t go far enough, and we need to be calling for the complete abolition of this regressive Thatcherite policy
It’s high time for England to follow Scotland and Wales in ending the privatisation of collectively owned housing. MARTIN WICKS explains why
Cancellation of councils’ debts would free up desperately needed resources amid this unprecedented pandemic, says MARTIN WICKS
Similar stories
Labour’s about to shift cost of new housing onto tenants, writes MARTIN WICKS arguing instead for cancelling the councils' HRA debt
MARTIN WICKS argues that the government’s reduced discounts for council house purchases don’t go far enough, and we need to be calling for the complete abolition of this regressive Thatcherite policy
