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
Tracking, tracing and adding up
Under the Tories' disastrous Covid-19 direction the Department for Health is desperate to show some good results — so desperate they're pushing bad maths. SOLOMON HUGHES does the sums
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
IF you won’t say what’s broken, you won’t be able to fix it. On that principle, the government is not going to get a better grip on the Covid-19 crisis.
Just before Matt Hancock announced his latest reorganisation of test-and-trace, his department put out a press release saying: “NHS Test and Trace service results in line with the recognised metric of success for contact-tracing services across the world.”
So the system to chase the virus is working well. The Department for Health liked this factlet so much they said it twice. The same press release added that the contact-tracing service “is reaching over 79 per cent of all those who test positive, and 83.4 per cent of their contacts where contact details were provided, which is in line with the recognised metric of success for contact-tracing services across the world.”
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
