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
Latest editorial
NHS workers must strike now or the attacks will only get worse
It is time for all NHS staff in all unions, especially nurses, to vote Yes to industrial action during this ballot period, or further 'restructuring,’ marketisation and degradation of our health service will follow, writes HELEN O’CONNOR
NHS workers march from St Thomas' Hospital to Downing Street, London, to demand a pay rise. Picture date: 29/7/2020
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
CUTS and privatisation, caused by constant rounds of restructuring, have fragmented the NHS to the point that it is dying on its feet. This is manifested by the dangerously low levels of experienced staff which leads to patient neglect and premature deaths. The gateways into the NHS are being shut for tens of thousands requiring medical treatment.
The catastrophe unfolding across the NHS is no accident — it has been deliberately designed and implemented by successive governments — governments determined to reduce overall state expenditure on health and distance themselves from the historic obligation to provide free healthcare to the population.
Where the NHS is concerned, it serves no good purpose to erase history just because it might be politically convenient to do so. Understanding the whole history of the NHS, why it was founded, how it worked, how and why it is being systematically destroyed by stealth, is essential in the struggle to fight to preserve what is left of a free, publicly provided health service.
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While Hardie, MacDonald and Wilson faced down war pressure from their own Establishment, today’s leadership appears to have forgotten that opposing imperial adventures has historically defined Labour’s moral authority, writes KEITH FLETT
Despite Labour’s promises to bring things ‘in-house,’ the Justice Secretary has awarded notorious outsourcing outfit Mitie a £329 million contract to run a new prison — despite its track record of abuse and neglect in its migrant facilities, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
Despite using female spokespeople for its campaigns against clinic buffer zones, ADF UK’s board consists entirely of men, with 80 per cent living outside Britain and most funding from its US parent, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
CARLOS MARTINEZ condemns Europe’s failure to develop genuine autonomy from US hegemony, as leaders like Starmer and Macron cling to a declining imperial order rather than building good relations with the emerging powers