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
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This is not the national care service we need
Unison completely supports a new, expanded care system — but what the Scottish government has put in front of us enables the break-up and privatisation of social work, institutionalising insecurity, warns KATE RAMSDEN
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
YOU could be forgiven for thinking the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill lays out a vision for a national care service in Scotland. You would be wrong.
It is a “framework” Bill. That means it gives no detail at all about what a national care service would look like, but if passed, would enable Scottish ministers to decide that without proper parliamentary scrutiny. It promises “co-design” but does not commit to listening or acting on what comes out of that.
Essentially it asks us to trust ministers to design a service that will meet the needs of staff and service users alike, leaving our members in social work and social care hostages to fortune.
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Tackling poverty in Scotland cannot happen without properly funded public services. Unison is leading the debate
Following the historic ban on companies profiting from children’s care, Unison Cymru calls for transparency in implementing the changes and extending the reform to create a truly national, profit-free care service, says MARK TURNER
Public and Commercial Services union leader FRAN HEATHCOTE warns the Chancellor not to take an axe to the Civil Service – and points to measures that would genuinely improve the public sector
