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
A bad time for Johnson is letting the SNP off the hook
VINCE MILLS writes that the SNP's piecemeal progressivism around income tax is dwarfed by its cuts to local services — but with a universally reviled Tory Party in charge in Westminster, little criticism sticks
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
LAST WEEK saw one of the biggest blows to the credibility of Boris Johnson’s awful Tory government — and more specifically to Johnson’s personal standing.
Note: this was not because of the reactionary Nationality and Borders Bill, which will make the perilous Channel crossings even more deadly, nor the authoritarian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill for England and Wales, a godsend for any police chief who wants inconvenient demonstrators off the streets.
Nor was it even the Tories’ Internal Market Act which concentrates all powers over state aid and competition policy in the hands of the Westminster Parliament, taking away the powers delegated to the Scottish Parliament — or for that matter, the Subsidy Control Bill also designed to protect “the free market” from the dangers of public authorities using subsidies in progressive ways.
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Tackling poverty in Scotland cannot happen without properly funded public services. Unison is leading the debate
Attempts at haggling to win a deal over the Scottish Budget still leave public services short-changed, writes MATT KERR
As polls show Scottish Labour’s support crumbling and Reform rising even among independence supporters, an urgent need emerges for an alternative based on public investment paid for by radical progressive taxation, argues VINCE MILLS