Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
What to make of Lee Anderson’s political trajectory?
While the Labour-turned-Tory-turned-Reform UK politician might hold deeply objectionable views, there are lessons to be drawn about class discontent and how socialist leadership should respond, argues ANDREW MURRAY
Newly-defected former Conservative deputy chairman Lee Anderson MP campaigns for the Reform Party in his constituency of Ashfield, Nottinghamshire on the Reform campaign bus, March 15, 202
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
WILL Lee Anderson’s name resonate in histories of British politics?
Stranger things have happened, like the premiership of Liz Truss, the free market ideologue done in by the markets.
Truss now seems to be pitching for the deranged US right-wing conference circuit, a not badly paid gig if you can land it.
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The Tories’ trouble is rooted in the British capitalist Establishment now being more disoriented and uncertain of its social mission than before, argues ANDREW MURRAY
Reform’s rise speaks to a deep crisis in Establishment parties – but relies on appealing to social and economic grievances the left should make its own, argues NICK WRIGHT
NICK WRIGHT examines how Farage’s party has attracted five distinct voter tribes with incompatible views on economics, immigration and state intervention — presenting both a challenge and opportunity for left organising
ANDREW MURRAY reviews studies on the motivations of last August's rioters and dwindling support for 'democracy' in its modern Western incarnation