Labour prospects in May elections may be irrevocably damaged by Birmingham Council’s costly refusal to settle the year-long dispute, warns STEVE WRIGHT
“We will never again seek economic growth at the cost of the environment” – Xi Jinping
The cost of development
Standing in Tiananmen Square on October 1 1949, pronouncing the birth of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong said “the Chinese people have stood up.” In standing up, in building a modern socialist society and throwing off the shackles of feudalism, colonialism, backwardness, illiteracy and grinding poverty, China blazed a trail for the entire Global South.
Life expectancy now exceeds 76, more than double what it was in 1949. Adult literacy stands at 97 per cent (for 15-24 year olds it’s 100 per cent). China is on the cusp of having completely eradicated extreme poverty. One hundred per cent of the population has access to electricity.
The Communist Party of Britain’s Congress last month debated a resolution on ending opposition to all nuclear power in light of technological advances and the climate crisis. RICHARD HEBBERT explains why
Activists from across the world gathered in China for an educational exchange where they witnessed the progress the country has made in building an ecological society and discussed the path to peaceful international relations, reports CALLUM NORRIS



