Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
The ongoing struggle for the NHS
Although there have been setbacks in healthcare organising, nurses and other NHS workers are becoming more active and engaged in their trade unions and this is still a beacon of hope, says HELEN O’CONNOR
GROWING CONFIDENCE: Ambulance workers from the GMB gather on College Green, Westminster amid the recent industrial action across the NHS
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
AS ANYONE who has worked on the front line of the NHS and ambulance trusts knows, comprehensive healthcare in this country is being eroded by aggressive cutbacks, restructures and privatisation.
Recent national strike action shone a light on the unprecedented scale of the struggle to deliver care safely. After decades of cutbacks there are not enough staff or beds to cope with demand in the NHS. And the policies of successive governments are to blame.
It is simply staggering, and reflective of decades of lull in trade union activity, that field medicine conditions are becoming normalised in one of the richest countries in the world.
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Since 2023, Strike Map has evolved from digital mapping at a national level to organising ‘mega pickets’ — we believe that mass solidarity with localised disputes prepares the ground for future national action, writes HENRY FOWLER
KEVAN NELSON reveals how, through its Organising to Win strategy, which has launched targeted campaigns like Pay Fair for Patient Care, Britain’s largest union bucked the trend of national decline by growing by 70,000 members in two years
Five years ago, on May Day 2020, as the initial shockwaves of the pandemic rippled through our society, #RedForKeyWorkers launched. To mark International Workers’ Day this year, the need to honour and fight for those who keep our society running is more urgent than ever, write ROBERT POOLE and HENRY FOWLER