This week the Welsh trade union movement comes together in Llandudno for TUC Cymru congress to debate motions and consider priorities for the next two years. JESS TURNER sets the stage
Latest editorial
No return to austerity — cancel local authority debt
Local councils — some of which now need four times the normal funding — must have their debts waived by central government, argues MARTIN WICKS
Blocked fertiliser exports and an extreme climate fluctuation may spell disaster for global food production, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
HOLLY TURNER, DR EMMA RUNSWICK, JORDAN RIVERA and PAULA DUNNE reflect on their joint union fringe meeting at this week’s Royal College of Nursing Congress in Liverpool
The Employment Rights Act marks a major victory for workers, but without stronger enforcement and collective organisation, its promises may fall short, says ALICE BOWMAN
The ghosts of Custer’s doomed campaign haunt a modern America still devoted to waging imperialist war, says STEPHEN ARNELL
Trump’s drive for ‘regime change’ in Cuba has deepened the crisis across the island – while Venezuela has reaffirmed its commitment to Bolivarian solidarity, says FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
A campaign initiated by the Labour Campaign for Council Housing calls for the government to cancel local-authority debt held by the Public Works Loans Board as an emergency measure to stave off the collapse of council services.
So far nine council leaders and five MPs have signed the statement. Cancellation would give councils £4.5 billion a year extra spending power.
The chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy warned of councils facing “a financial tsunami of reduced income and increased costs.” He was right. The financial crisis of local authorities is spiralling out of control as councils struggle to respond to the pandemic.
Similar stories
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
LOTTE COLLETT welcomes the arrival of a new party for the left, a vehicle for councils to finally fight for progressive policies on housing, green spaces and public facilities, rather than administering cuts and misery from central government