High pressures squeeze and crush, but low pressures damage too. Losing the atom-level buzz that keeps us held safe in the balance of internal and external pressure releases dangerous storms, disorientation and pain, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Maximum medical misjudgement
SOLOMON HUGHES condemns the Tory decision to take out a contract with Maximus – the scandal-hit US outsourcing firm reviled for its handing of Medicaid in the US
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd
EDMUND GRIFFITHS makes a robust defence of sortition, the chosen method of picking attendees for the new left party’s inaugural conference from the membership at random, but sounds the alarm on the eye-watering number of suggested delegates
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 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
In March, Amber Rudd extended the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) contract with US corporation Maximus until 2021. The DWP pays Maximus about £150m a year to test disabled people for benefits with the “Work Capability Assessment.”
If Maximus says claimants are “fit for work,” they can’t get the most important benefit, the “Employment & Support Allowance.” There is a deep well of anger against Maximus in Britain, because disabled people say their judgements are mean, perverse and shoddy. The company makes millions, while claimants lose benefits after humiliating tests.
But Maximus are smirking all the way to the bank. Poor performance is nothing new to the firm. But grabbing public-sector contracts has turned them from a small business founded in 1975 to a corporate giant with a $2.3billion turnover.
The big money doesn’t show the firm does a good job. Maximus are currently in the middle of another scandal in their native US. In Kansas, state leaders have been wrestling with Maximus’s poor performance on a “Medicaid” contract for three years.
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
