Working-class women lead the fight for fair work and equitable pay and against sexual harassment, the rise of the far right and years of failed austerity policies, writes ROZ FOYER
State pensions: a diminishing ‘benefit’ under the Tories
What was once common sense to both major parties – that we all pay a little of our wages to receive a pension when we are too old to work – has been viciously undermined by decades of neoliberalism, explains NICK WRIGHT
A pile of one pound coins
KELLIE O’DOWD reports on an event to highlight the GMB sisterhood
The Scottish labour movement’s rejection of the Supreme Court ruling on sex-based rights jeopardises not only the credibility of the unions but also poses legal risks and opens the door to far-right reaction, warns JANE McLENACHAN
ROGER MCKENZIE argues that it was correct to ban the notorious Israeli side who were likely to cause trouble in Muslim areas of Birmingham, but asks, given the occupation and slaughter in Palestine, why any Israeli team is being hosted anywhere
ARTHUR WEST alerts readers to peace-centred activities in Scotland in November
With the last bricks of the red wall crumbling in the Caerphilly by-election, Starmer and co cannot count on the spectre of Farageism translating into votes for them come the next general election, argues ANDREW MURRAY
TWO days ago my state pension went up in lockstep with the inflation figures for last year.
Useful, if not really keeping pace with the basket of price rises that devalues the average pension, but, raised in line with the Tories’ electorally effective “triple lock,” it is an effective marker of the ways in which the weekly income of working people and pensioners loses its value.
But it is not a bloody “benefit” — at least in the reworked meaning of that word. I paid for it with National Insurance deductions from my wages over decades. The proof is brought home with the carefully annotated reminder that my state pension is a bit higher than otherwise might be the case when I paid Barbara Castle’s enhanced State Earnings-Related Pension (Serps) contribution.
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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