Fertiliser chaos triggered by Gulf conflict could send prices soaring and leave millions facing devastating hunger, writes DYLAN MURPHY
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Empty boasts of money-saving
SOLOMON HUGHES examines questions raised about the Crown Commercial Service’s organisation of cross-departmental spending – and finds Labour sadly committed to ‘more of the same’
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves speaking about the economy at the Association of British Insurers in the City of London, May 7, 2024
A surge in futures activity minutes before news of US–Iran talks has led to questions about insider trading and oversight gaps, writes CJ ATKINS
Washington’s response to a downed jet shows a superpower still reaching for overwhelming force even as its wars repeatedly fail, says NICK WRIGHT
With attacks on industry, healthcare and education intensifying, JAMSHID AHMADI warns of a deliberate drive to cripple Iran and calls for urgent global action
Argentinians commemorated the 50th anniversary of the military dictatorship that left 30,000 people killed or ‘disappeared.’ BERT SCHOUWENBURG reports
In Voices of Scotland YANA PETTICREW looks at the crippling deterioration of working-class art provision and support
THE government celebrated the Crown Commercial Service’s 10th anniversary last month, claiming this special “procurement department” had “saved taxpayers £3.8 billion last year alone.”
But the Crown Commercial Service was central to some of the worst Covid contracts, and arguably sometimes limits competition for government work. Crown Commercial was set up by the Tories, but Rachel Reeves has expressed enthusiasm for its methods, so it may hang around under a Labour government too.
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) was set up by David Cameron’s privatisation guru Lord Maude in 2014: this Cabinet Office department tries saving money by organising cross-departmental purchasing.
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