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

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

Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT

The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire

CJ ATKINS argues that despite losing the election, Chile’s left remains big and organised and must unite to resist the new far-right government

Take a read of the latest Unite Hospitality Glasgow Strike Bulletin and hear from workers fighting for better pay and dignity at work

Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking

The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE

After years of austerity and denial under a new Reform UK council, a failing Send service was pushed into the spotlight by staff, unions and parents — culminating in a £1.3m funding boost and a 50% increase in front-line workers. MARTIN PORTER explains

Held at a last-minute undisclosed venue amid fear of disruption, a Women’s Rights Network event brought together authors and activists, offering a day of debate on feminism’s past, present and future. JADE MIDDLETON reports

Trade union leaderships have so far stopped short of the bold industrial action over Gaza seen in Italy and Greece. NATHAN HENNEBRY calls for a re-radicalising of the union movement and rebuilding class power as vital to turning solidarity into action

From the workhouses of the 1840s to today’s market capitalism, A Christmas Carol remains a sharp critique of charity rationed by class, says KEITH FLETT

Evidence suggests Lammy’s proposals would come at a high cost: reduced fairness, diminished trust and greater racial inequality in the criminal justice system, argue TARA LAI QUINLAN and KATHARINA KARCHER

Trump’s escalation against Venezuela is about more than oil, it is about regaining control over the ‘natural’ zone of influence of the United States at a moment where its hegemony is slipping, argues VIJAY PRASHAD

The federal government’s plans to finance the war in Ukraine with Russian assets, and a possible deployment of German troops, put the population in Germany in the highest danger, argues SEVIM DAGDELEN

PABLO MERIGUET reviews some of the neoliberal measures promised by the recently inaugurated Paz administration in Bolivia, which include budget cuts, tax breaks for the wealthiest, and audits of previous administrations

Marxist economist JULIO GAMBINA tells Bert Schouwenburg why voters backed Javier Milei despite soaring poverty, how Washington is shaping Argentina’s future, and why the unions and wider left have yet to form a force capable of halting the far-right project

As we approach the half-anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, the community gathers to remember loved ones while grappling with mixed emotions surrounding the ongoing deconstruction of the tower and the hopeful plans for a memorial, writes EMMA DENT COAD

The new plan sets out an uncompromising bid for global dominance, casting even allies as obstacles to be subdued, writes DIANE ABBOTT

The argument for a “significant expansion” of nuclear power will deliver soaring electricity prices that condemn underserved communities to unending hardship and poverty, argues LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Historically the framework of that expulsion of Palestinians was predicated on the use of war as a pretext, as opposed to war as a response to Palestinian resistance, writes RAMZY BAROUD

SYMON HILL looks at Tommy Robinson’s bid to use Christmas to spread division and hate — and reminds us that’s the opposite of Jesus’s message

VICTORIA HOLMES salutes the brave stand being taken by Palestine Action hunger-strikers in British prisons, and explains their demands

SOLOMON HUGHES finds the government went along with a US scheme to distract from Israel’s lethal Gaza blockade with an impractical floating pier scheme – though its own officials knew it wouldn’t work