Just as German Social Democrats joined the Nazis in singing Deutschland Uber Alles, ANDREW MURRAY observes how Starmer tries to out-Farage Farage with anti-migrant policies — but evidence shows Reform voters come from Tories, not Labour, making this ploy morally bankrupt and politically pointless
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Key strengths of Scotland’s Housing Bill are being put at risk
The Scottish government has responsibility to protect private rental tenants until rent controls become law. RUTH GILBERT explains the issues at stake
KEITH FLETT traces how the ‘world’s most successful political party’ has imploded since Thatcher’s fall, from nine leaders in 30 years to losing all 16 English councils, with Reform UK symbolically capturing Peel’s birthplace, Tamworth — but the beast is not dead yet
With turnout plummeting and faith in Parliament collapsing, BERT SCHOUWENBURG explains how radical local government reform — including devolved taxation and removal of party politics from town halls — could restore power to communities currently ignored by profit-obsessed MPs
As food and fuel run out, Gaza’s doctors appeal to the world to end the ‘genocide of children,’ reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
While Trump threatens to send Haitian gang leaders to El Salvador's terror prison, DANNY SHAW reveals how these paramilitary groups are merely symptoms of US-backed neocolonial rule — the real terrorists are the CIA and international actors arming desperate youth to traumatise an unarmed population
Having endured 14 years of Tory austerity followed by Starmerite cuts, young voters are desperate for change — but Anas Sarwar’s refusal to differentiate from Westminster means Scottish Labour risks electoral catastrophe, writes LAUREN HARPER
Mark Harvey pays tribute to a veteran of the days when the London building trade was a hotbed of working-class struggle, a legendary trade unionist, communist and poet
THIS summer, Scotland’s organised tenants stand on the cusp of victory at Holyrood. But with another dangerous cliff edge on the horizon, the fight for robust rent controls and a transformed housing system has never been more urgent.
Scotland remains in a national housing emergency, one caused by a market-driven system which has prioritised private developers and landlords over working-class people. This emergency has not come about overnight. It has been created through decades of political choices which have resulted in the mass sell-off of our public housing stock, a systematic deregulation of the private rented sector, and consequently a lack of genuinely affordable homes for social rent.
This spring, Stage 2 of Scotland’s Housing Bill will proceed through Parliament. It contains, among other key provisions, proposals for robust rent controls tied to the property which have the ability to bring out-of-control rents down. We know that landlords and their lobbyists are working hard to water these provisions down, but rent controls, if done right, will be part of a holistic solution towards building a housing system which works in the interests of Scotland’s people. However, the road to meaningful rent controls remains paved with challenges and several irresponsible decisions by Housing Minister Paul McLennan put the key strengths of the Bill at risk. These decisions must be named and challenged.
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RUTH GILBERT of Living Rent warns that the ever-growing housing crisis in Scotland needs proper strategic thinking, not short-termism based around election cycles
Building a unified movement around in workplaces and communities can beat the housing crisis and landlord profiteering, says RUTH GILBERT
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A new Bill seeks to prevent price-gouging landlords evicting tenants under dubious grounds only to hike up the rent for the next tenant. Living Rent is campaigning hard to make sure this provision becomes law, writes ADITI JEHANGIR
