Since Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power in Syria, the Damascus government has been given carte blanche to use maximum force against any threat to its continued rule, writes VIJAY PRASHAD
Remembering Dave Wetzel (1942-2024)
A champion of public transport and land value taxation, whose legacy lives on
MUSICAL PROTEST: A £50m cheque on the side of a bus is delivered by the Greater London Council to the Department of Transport HQ, as part of a protest at a disputed payment for the running of London’s buses and Tube trains. Dave Wetzel (front) was helped with the delivery by Terry Lightfoot (centre) and his band, 1985
Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Britain’s proud asylum history, from sheltering the Kindertransport escaping Hitler to Basque children fleeing fascist Spain, required tireless campaigning against persistent opposition — and it’s up to all of us to do our part today, writes SABINA PRICE
The truth will out: we are here to unveil the full scale of the government’s complicity in genocide and to hold it to account for the monstrous bloodshed in Palestine, writes JEREMY CORBYN
As the Alliance of Sahel States and southern African nations advance pan-African goals, the African Union must listen and learn rather than parroting the Western line on these positive developments, writes ROGER McKENZIE
KEITH BENNETT reflects on witnessing the grand parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of China’s Victory Day, which impressively showcased advanced military technology
DAVE WETZEL had a profound impact on my school life, he got me and many other schoolkids on the Tube during Ken Livingstone’s Labour administration under the Greater London Council’s Fares Fair Initiative. And he later persuaded me of the advantages of land value taxation when l was serving at the London Assembly.
Dave Wetzel was born in 1942 and educated at Southall Technical College, Ealing College and the Henry George School of Social Sciences. After working as bus conductor and official in the 1960s, Wetzel became political organiser of the London Co-operative Society between 1974 and 1981.
He was the Labour Party councillor for Hammersmith North (1981-86) at the Greater London Authority and chair of the transport committee between 1981-86, and was transport chief under Livingstone involved in the Fares Fair initiative.
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