The victories that followed the American civil war and the 1960s civil rights era are once again under attack, echoing earlier efforts to roll back equality and redefine democracy, says JOE SIMS
The Budget: harsh class reality lurks behind ‘working people’ rhetoric
In the first of two articles, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that despite a parliamentary majority, Labour’s timid Budget fails to seize a historic opportunity and lacks the ambition needed to address Britain’s deep social and economic crises
In 2010, faced with the closure of their local library, a Buckinghamshire town’s locals turned to an unconventional tactic – borrowing every single book – to defend a cherished community space. MAT COWARD tells the story
The indictment of Nicolas Maduro after a deadly US assault is just the latest phase in a long campaign against the Bolivarian government, warns FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
Journalist STEVE SWEENEY talks to Roger McKenzie about narrowly surviving an Israeli air strike last week while documenting the mass displacement of civilians – and explains why the real story goes far beyond the attack on him
After 27 years in Holyrood, the former first minister urged unity and respect — but, says NEIL FINDLAY, her time in power told a very different story
The Employment Rights Act 2025’s focus on individual rights forces workers into slow and costly litigation to assert rights, rather than empowering unions. A Campaign for Trade Union Freedom-Strike Map rally at the weekend called for a more radical sequel, reports BEN CHACKO
AS a modern-day Aesop’s Fable might put it, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has laboured mightily and brought forth a mouse. With a majority of around 156 MPs at Westminster, her Budget on Wednesday missed a golden opportunity to begin fixing Britain’s big social and economic problems.
These include 14 million people in poverty (including four million children); six million patients on hospital waiting lists; 1,290,000 people and families on housing waiting lists; and public services run down or privatised.
Led by the Tories and their right-wing press, much of the public debate before, during and after Budget day focused on Labour’s plans to increase employers’ National Insurance contributions (NICs).
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