Just as German Social Democrats joined the Nazis in singing Deutschland Uber Alles, ANDREW MURRAY observes how Starmer tries to out-Farage Farage with anti-migrant policies — but evidence shows Reform voters come from Tories, not Labour, making this ploy morally bankrupt and politically pointless
The persecution of Julian Assange
No matter how black our satire, the government goes blacker – as shown in the WikiLeaks founders’ case, says MATTHEW ALFORD
A CCTV court shot of Assange experiencing a small stroke
KEITH FLETT traces how the ‘world’s most successful political party’ has imploded since Thatcher’s fall, from nine leaders in 30 years to losing all 16 English councils, with Reform UK symbolically capturing Peel’s birthplace, Tamworth — but the beast is not dead yet
With turnout plummeting and faith in Parliament collapsing, BERT SCHOUWENBURG explains how radical local government reform — including devolved taxation and removal of party politics from town halls — could restore power to communities currently ignored by profit-obsessed MPs
As food and fuel run out, Gaza’s doctors appeal to the world to end the ‘genocide of children,’ reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
While Trump threatens to send Haitian gang leaders to El Salvador's terror prison, DANNY SHAW reveals how these paramilitary groups are merely symptoms of US-backed neocolonial rule — the real terrorists are the CIA and international actors arming desperate youth to traumatise an unarmed population
Having endured 14 years of Tory austerity followed by Starmerite cuts, young voters are desperate for change — but Anas Sarwar’s refusal to differentiate from Westminster means Scottish Labour risks electoral catastrophe, writes LAUREN HARPER
Mark Harvey pays tribute to a veteran of the days when the London building trade was a hotbed of working-class struggle, a legendary trade unionist, communist and poet
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange will spend his fifth Christmas awaiting trial in a London prison. Teased appeal dates for US extradition hearings have been and gone. Finally, now, we have a formal announcement: the British High Court will make a decision on February 21 2024.
I originally drafted this article for a protest organised by the Don’t Extradite Assange campaign — the DEA. I like calling it the DEA because goddammit this case makes me wanna go rogue, hand in my badge, then bust the real criminals down at city hall.
Many believe that politicians don’t pay attention to the public but those researching the security state often hear interference on phone lines — I assure you the government is listening to us.
More from this author
MATTHEW ALFORD considers the principal four reasons there wasn’t a nuclear exchange this year, despite the Ukraine war, the carnage in the Middle East, the provocations over Taiwan — and his best predictions
MATTHEW ALFORD questions the establishment-pleasing politics that underlie so-called ‘political satire’
MATTHEW ALFORD asks how innocent the arts and the celebrities who front them up really are
As a civilisation we are in thrall to and infantilised by our own righteousness, while ignoring the corporate interests that make war miserably predictable, writes MATTHEW ALFORD
