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
Running out of credit: Anas Sarwar and the Winter Heating Payment
Without challenging the neoliberal framework of our economy or seeking more powers for Scotland, the Scottish Labour leader’s seeming break with Westminster policy rings hollow, writes VINCE MILLS
TACTICAL MANOEUVRE: Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s surprise move does not represent a serious change of direction
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
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
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
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
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
ANAS SARWAR, leader of the Scottish Labour Party, took everyone by surprise — at least everyone outside his inner circle — when he announced last week that should Labour win the 2026 election in Scotland, all pensioners would receive a payment of the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment which will be paid by Social Security Scotland.
This is due to replace the current winter fuel benefit currently administered by DWP in 2025-26. The new benefit being proposed by Sarwar, however, would be “tapered” so that the wealthiest households received less.
Rachel Reeves had, of course, used the Budget to announce that the new Labour government would end winter fuel payments at the British level for most pensioners, with only those receiving means-tested benefits entitled to receive it from now on.
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VINCE MILLS looks at how UK Labour’s backpedalling on policy has left Scottish Labour with nothing to offer its own electorate
As polls show Scottish Labour’s support crumbling and Reform rising even among independence supporters, an urgent need emerges for an alternative based on public investment paid for by radical progressive taxation, argues VINCE MILLS
