In the third of a four-part serialisation from her new book No to Nuclear, LINDA PENTZ GUNTER explains how the world had a chance to build an energy system around renewables more than 70 years ago — instead, it chose nuclear
Death by a thousand cuts
We need candidates ready to build a united front to defend our services and communities, and stand up against the politics of despair which can only grow when people ‘lose faith’ with the Establishment parties, argues NATHAN HENNEBRY
Elon Musk says AI will make work optional. The world of abundance he predicts actually spells the end of the capitalist system, argues FAWZI IBRAHIM
Indian students have fought for the right to education, schooling us all in the process. Comrades from the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) — UK comment on the resistance and its ripples here
Edinburgh’s upcoming by-elections offer tenants a chance to put politicians under pressure over soaring rents and a council that has repeatedly sided with landlords and developers, says ADITI JEHANGIR
The real welfare dependency is at the top of our society, says ALAN SIMPSON
Tony Benn’s constituents chose him by an overwhelming majority — but because he had inherited a peerage, parliamentary rules declared their choice invalid, writes MAT COWARD
CONTINUOUS cuts to local councils have become the norm for well over a decade now. Our local high streets lie empty, council-run services continue to be liquidated into the hands of private monopolies and public transport has been decimated. These cuts are a conscious choice.
At a national level, the Scottish government does have the power to allocate crucial funds away from the private enterprises and back into the council-run services. They have made the conscious choice not to.
Locally, it is the officers of the council who establish budgets based on cost-cutting. Councillors should be playing a vital role in opposing budgets which see services and facilities liquidated. Many councillors across Scotland have failed in this duty to their constituents, most notably in Lanarkshire.
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LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government
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