Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO reports from the start of Kunming’s Belt and Road media forum, where 200 journalists from 71 countries celebrated a new openness and optimism, forged by China’s enormous contribution to global development
Why our democracy is in need of an upgrade
TOM HARDY of Extinction Rebellion looks ahead to an event in Windsor Great park when XR will be showcasing the people power of citizens’ assemblies
Climate campaigners from Extinction Rebellion Scotland protest outside the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association Conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), to highlight the flawed climate risk models used by pension funds and to call on the funds to stop investing in fossil fuels, February 28, 2024
Women opponents of the Trump regime fear his misogynist, racist and anti-immigrant views are taking hold in Britain, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER, as protests against his visit hit London’s streets
It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS
MISH RAHMAN introduces the platform of a new organisation within Your Party, which will campaign for the highest level of democracy, accountability and participation, having learned from the mistakes of Labour in the 2015-19 era
ANDREW MURRAY wonders what the great communist foe of Oswald Mosley would make of today’s far-right surge, warning that while the triumph of Farage and ‘Robinson’ is far from inevitable, placing any faith in Starmer in an anti-fascist front is a fool’s errand
FROM August 30 to September 1, Extinction Rebellion will host Upgrade Democracy, an event in Windsor Great Park, to highlight the potential of citizens’ assemblies to bring hope and renewal to our broken system through deliberative democracy.
As we prepare to gather outside Windsor Castle, it feels fitting to echo the King’s own appeal, which makes clear that our mission to survive is beyond politics.
“We are at a historical moment — because we face a future where there is a real prospect that if we fail the Earth, we fail humanity. To avoid such an outcome which will comprehensively destroy our children’s future, we must urgently confront and then make choices which carry monumental implications.” (from “Harmony” by King Charles, Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly)
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As summer nears, TOM HARDY explains how unions are organising heat strikes and cool stations while calling for legal maximum workplace temperatures — because employers currently have no duty to protect workers from dangerous heat
Thanks to impressive progress in Britain with wind and solar generation, clean electricity now costs a fraction of the price of gas — yet the current system keeps bills artificially high to protect fossil fuels, writes TOM HARDY
TOM HARDY traces how these climate conferences have been captured by fossil fuel interests while CO₂ levels have continued to rise since 1995 — but XR’s citizen assemblies and direct action have offered an alternative
Will Labour live up to its campaign promises and support this vital Bill as it passes into the next stage of its passage through Parliament, asks TOM HARDY
