Real security comes from having a secure base at home — Keir Starmer’s reckless and renegade decision to get Britain deeper into the proxy war against Russia is as dangerous as it is wasteful, writes SALLY SPIERS

AS the new year approaches, we find ourselves still in the midst of a pandemic that shows no sign of ending, and on the brink of a financial crash and climate crisis.
World leaders have shown themselves to be wholly inadequate in their response to these challenges, prioritising profit over people.
We are seeing creeping authoritarianism in society, with the old neoliberal order fading only to be replaced by something even more sinister.





Hundreds travel to Birmingham to join ‘mega picket’ of striking refuse workers and supporters
![Strike Map activists visit striking refuse workers in Birmingham, April 29, 2025 [Pic: Strike Map]]( https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/low_resolution/public/2025-05/DSC_0753.JPG.webp?itok=UCYB6Qpj)
As Birmingham’s refuse workers fight brutal pay cuts, Strike Map rallies mass solidarity, with unions, activists, and workers converging to defy scab labour and police intimidation. The message to Labour? Back workers or face rebellion, writes HENRY FOWLER and ROBERT POOLE
