The NEU kept children and teachers safe during the pandemic, yet we are disgracefully slandered by the politicians who have truly failed our children by not funding a proper education recovery programme — here’s what is needed, explains KEVIN COURTNEY
The US corporation locking up British youth
SOLOMON HUGHES introduces the scandal-hit MTC group who have come from across the Atlantic to coin it running our privatised prisons
The appalling bigotry and bias of London’s police force has been obvious for years – and the police leadership does not appear inclined to do anything about it, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
As Holyrood elections approach, BRIAN LEISHMAN MP argues that Labour’s time has come — to open a new chapter which puts an end to the years of managed decline
ASSAF TALGAM talks to an Israeli Communist lawmaker about the need to use every tool of democratic and non-violent struggle; how Israeli society has changed since October 7 2023; and the persecution of the left in the parliamentary arena
Apart from a bright spark of hope in the victory of the Gaza motion, this year’s conference lacked vision and purpose — we need to urgently reconnect Labour with its roots rather than weakly aping the flag-waving right, argues KIM JOHNSON MP
In the face of funding cuts, closures and a shift into women’s centres providing criminal justice-only services rather than a holistic approach, RUTH HUNT urges women to protect existing resources, volunteer and build new networks of support
THANKS to British governments copying the ugly US-plan of jail privatisation, a multinational corporation can make money out of miserable conditions on two continents.
Just before Christmas three regulators demanded “urgent action” to improve grim conditions at the privately run Rainsbrook youth jail in Warwickshire. The poor treatment of the locked-up youngsters is not surprising, given the firm running the jail: the Management and Training Corporation (MTC) are also known for some shocking conditions in private jails in their native US.
On December 18, Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the Care Quality Commission jointly issued what they called a “rare urgent notification” obliging Tory Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to make improvements at Rainsbrook in 28 days. The three regulators said that Rainsbrook, a “secure training centre” for young offenders in Warwickshire, was a “spartan regime where children were given little encouragement to get up in the mornings or have any meaningful engagement with staff.”
More from this author
The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
