Unions and MPs tell PM to quit after Burnham's triumph in Makerfield

Voters have delivered a stay of execution for Labour and exposed limits to Reform’s advance. But will Burnham offer a political alternative rather than just a different face at the top, asks ANDREW MURRAY

MATT KERR takes stock of a night of by-elections, where the long repeated warnings for Labour and the political class remain stubbornly unheeded

The US blockade of Cuba raises risks of a new global pandemic, experts warn at Unison conference

Rising support for Farage’s party reflects Labour’s failure to defend working-class living standards or offer a credible alternative to neoliberal decline, says JOSEPH MILLS

Starmer makes desperate effort to buy off Burnham as polls suggest he is set to win Makerfield by-election

Cabinet Office sets out plan for bringing services like cleaning and security back in-house

Campaigners and MPs blast Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold Palestine Action ban

If Labour continues to abandon the promise of economic hope and security, Reform will keep filling the vacuum in communities once considered its heartlands, argues IAN LAVERY MP

The FBU leader speaks to Ben Chacko about cuts, collapsing Starmerism and confronting the far right

Transparency records reveal senior trade officials held dinners and strategy meetings with the notorious lobbying firm even as controversy over its Epstein links deepened, says SOLOMON HUGHES

Starmer promised a reset after Labour’s dire electoral performance, but the government’s programme still falls far short of the bold action needed, says ANDY McDONALD MP

The Starmer project is going up in smoke – but if the left cannot swiftly build a viable alternative, the country faces the grim reality of a hard-right takeover, says ANDREW MURRAY

ALAN SIMPSON says responses to the Golders Green attacks risk deepening divides across our country

Meanwhile, far-right Reform UK projected to gain around 1,550 representatives

Welsh Labour leader ELUNED MORGAN explains how a vote for the party will deliver the progress and continuity the country needs on manufacturing, renewables, creative industries and more

Starmer facing Labour rebellion as back-bench MPs come out against plan to block probe into his handling of Mandelson

The party’s internal enforcer built his sinister influence in the shadows – but nemesis now appears to be at hand, says ANDREW MURRAY

JOANNE THOMAS argues that unions’ political voice remains vital to winning stronger rights and protections for working people

The labour movement must challenge the endless austerity narrative — and Unity Consulting will play its part to complement the work already being done by trade unions

DIANE ABBOTT looks at how a declining US has resorted to globalised violence to salvage any vestiges of political and economic hegemony

Polls show Labour facing meltdown in May elections for devolved parliaments and local authorities

Socialists cannot back warfare over welfare, MPs and peace campaigners warn after former Nato boss demands government cuts social spending to finance weapons

KEITH FLETT looks at the state’s efforts to limit protest rights from the 19th century to today’s repression of the Palestine movement

The government has few aces up its sleeve when it comes to managing popular anger, argues ANDREW MURRAY

Thousands expected to join largest anti-racist march in a generation in London this Saturday

Green Party leader Polanski slams Chancellor Reeves' ‘unbelievably weak response’ to the ‘enormous bill hikes facing households’

Changing visa rules are pushing young migrant workers into precarious work and exploitation, report NUPUR PALIWAL and SOMIHA CHATTERJEE of the Student Federation of India

Young Communist League general secretary GEORGINA ANDREWS says the far right are filling a vacuum created by Labour’s abandonment of working-class interests — we have to give our class a better offer

Lawyer slams prosecution on final day Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition vice-chair Chris Nineham's trial