Head of education, campaigns and organising for the General Federation of Trade Unions HENRY FOWLER explains why it is launching a fund to support trades councils and give them access to a new range of courses and resources
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Rent freezes are needed to avoid mass evictions
RICHARD BURGON MP warns that there is a real danger that the coronavirus crisis will turn the housing crisis into a catastrophe
While working people face austerity, arms companies enjoy massive government contracts, writes ARTHUR WEST, exposing how politicians exaggerate the Russian threat to justify spending on a sector that has the lowest employment multiplier
ANYA COOK reports from the Newcastle citizens’ assembly, where over 240 people gathered to create a people’s manifesto ahead of next year’s local elections – part of former mayor Jamie Driscoll’s Majority movement
While claiming to target fraud, Labour’s snooping Bill strips benefit recipients of privacy rights and presumption of innocence, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE, warning that algorithms with up to 25 per cent error rates could wrongfully investigate and harass millions of vulnerable people
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
The plan is to stigmatise and destabilise South Africa in preparation for breaking it up while creating a confused and highly racialised atmosphere around immigration in the US to aid in denying rights to non-white refugees, explains EMILE SCHEPERS
ALAN SIMPSON warns that Starmer’s triangulation strategy will fail just as New Labour’s did, with each rightward move by Labour pushing Tories further right
OUR housing system has been broken for decades. Millions of people were struggling to pay the rent even before the coronavirus crisis, but many now face being overwhelmed by housing debt and the risk of losing their home.
After Thatcher’s neoliberal revolution we saw 40 years of insufficient council house building combined with increased marketisation of housing. Rents rose faster than wages, leaving private renters spending an average of 40 per cent of their income on rent. Access to long-term secure housing was pushed out of the reach of many.
The number of tenants who privately rent living in overcrowded conditions doubled in the last decade and, as with all of Britain’s social crises, black communities are especially affected and much more likely to suffer overcrowding.
All this meant that poor housing was already a public health concern. There are now even fears that areas with the highest levels of overcrowding could also have some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases.
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In his May Day message for the Morning Star, RICHARD BURGON says the call for peace, equality and socialism has never been more relevant
RICHARD BURGON MP argues that a broad, united mass movement can stop the cuts and ensure it’s the wealthiest that pay their fair share
RICHARD BURGON MP says the government should use the Employment Rights Bill to reverse a shameful Tory decision on discrimination
RICHARD BURGON MP, who voted against the cut to winter fuel allowance, warns against a return to austerity, introducing his ideas that could raise billions to properly fund public services and boost wages instead
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