A vast US war fleet deployed in the south Caribbean — ostensibly to fight drug-trafficking but widely seen as a push for violent regime change — has sparked international condemnation and bipartisan resistance in the US itself. FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ reports
Latest editorial
Capital gains tax: an open goal for Labour
Raising capital gains tax to match income tax is not only economically sound but morally just, potentially raising billions for public services — it’s an absolute no-brainer for any Labour government, argues BERNIE EVANS
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves makes her keynote speech during the International Investment Summit in London, which brings together up to 300 industry leaders to boost investment in Britain, October 14, 2024
ANSELM ELDERGILL recalls the misjudgments, mishaps and moments of farce that shaped his years in legal practice
MAT COWARD tells how 18th-century scholar and revolutionary democrat Joseph Ritson turned a medieval outlaw into England’s people’s hero — soon to be gracing panto halls around the nation
The Communist Party of Britain’s Congress last month debated a resolution on ending opposition to all nuclear power in light of technological advances and the climate crisis. RICHARD HEBBERT explains why
Amid the festive lights, Scotland faces a stark holiday truth: only real investment in public services and the workers who sustain them can lift communities out of poverty, argues LILIAN MACER
Behind the cute names of Scotland’s road gritters lies a workforce underpaid and overlooked – a fitting reflection of a Budget that protected profits, bungled its rollout and offered hardly a glimmer of hope, writes MATT KERR
SINCE the election, speculation has been rife about which taxes Chancellor Rachel Reeves will increase in the forthcoming Budget.
Having accepted the idiotic Tory fiscal rules, raising income tax, VAT, and corporation tax isn’t an option for her, and so attention has been focused on other possible ways of acquiring much-needed resources to fund our public services.
Increasing National Insurance contributions from employers is clearly on the cards, but it has the disadvantage of hitting small businesses like local pubs, shops and restaurants, many of which are already in danger of going under.
Along with a new wealth tax, which sadly seems to have been given the thumbs down by Reeves, and closing all the loopholes around inheritance tax, paid by only 6 per cent of the country’s population, the most sensible option is to concentrate on capital gains tax.
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