Opinion
Social mobility report should have carried Corbyn’s manifesto slogan
Today a new report by the Social Mobility Commission concluded once and for all that the British government’s performance on social mobility over past 20 years has failed to significantly reduce the gap between the “haves and have nots”. Without immediate reform by the government, it advised, the gulf between rich and poor will only grow larger with grave consequences for society. If the report had been released a month earlier reporters might have been quicker to note a mirrored correlation between Labour's election manifesto...
History proves a US-backed regime change in Iran won’t work
The 1953 coup d’état was a failure. How could any politician believe this time would be any different? By Daniel Khalili-Tari Sixty-four years on from the calamitous Operation Ajax backed by the US and Britain why are some US politicians hinting for another regime change in Persia? Why after plunging Iran into a state of complete despair are some Republicans so keen to further abridge Iran? And why is President Trump so eager to use the violent actions of some Iranians...
Why we all need to know about the Tories’ “scandalous” leaked NHS plans – Shadow Health Secretary
Why we all need to demand an end to the secret Tory NHS ‘capped expenditure process’ hit-list By Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow Health Secretary A weak Prime Minister and unstable government have this week been forced to allocate extra cash to Northern Ireland in return for votes in the House of Commons. There isn’t a penny piece extra, however, for public services in the rest of the UK. In fact, and with the ink barely dry on this cash for votes deal,...
There is a magic money tree…in fact there are two
By Professor Emeritus Mary Mellor, from University of Northumbria That's right there are two magic money trees. Both the state and the banks can create money out of thin air. States do this by having budgets. Despite the myths that have been told time and time again, states are NOT households – they run armies and banks and schools and police forces and so on. They allocate expenditure in expectation of getting an equivalent amount of money back through taxation. There...
Refugee Week: British solidarity in the face of suffering
By Dipti Pardeshi, Chief of Mission, The UN Migration Agency, International Organisation for Migration UK Recently, IOM was working in Lebanon with a group of Syrian refugees who were to be resettled in the UK. While the parents attended a pre-departure orientation session, we asked the Syrian children to draw what they expect for their future in the UK. Almost all children drew a house and a school. “If we have this, everything will be beautiful,” noted ten year old...
Shhh! Don’t tell the Tories, but politics has changed!
Settle back and relax with a nice warm beverage as I'm going to tell you a story. Back in the mid-1980s when I was an eager young man with a passion for politics, the Liberal Party of Canada sent me to an intensive training conference for campaign management. The keynote speaker and designer of the workshop material was a large man who spoke with a folksy drawl named Matt Reese. Reese had been an organiser for both John and Robert...
Britain’s Brexiversary woes in 10 “I told you so’s”
Today Britain celebrates its first Brexiversary. A year on from the vote to leave the European Union we are already a poorer, weaker and less happy nation than we once were and we haven't even properly started the process yet. With our only political moves being ones to sure-up existing EU freedoms, it is safe to say that 48 per cent of the nation are currently uttering "I told you so". Flagrant mockery it may be, but in this case I believe...
Protesters march in peace as Fleet Street unleashes a day of rage
Protesters marched in peace today just hours after the media unleashed a day of rage. Anti-austerity activists marched from Shepherds Bush to Downing Street following the tragic Grenfell Tower incident and “brutal austerity, cuts and anti-immigrant attacks”. According to the 2017 Social Progress Index released this week Britain is flat-lining on key measurements of social progress compared with other developed nations. The study was released a week after the Grenfell Tower broke out and made a clear link between the austerity...
Firefighter gives first-hand account of Grenfell Tower rescue mission
A total of 79 people are either ‘dead or presumed dead’ after the blaze tore through the tower on Wednesday, in Grenfell Tower, West London The 2,500 word account of the horrific fire and rescue mission, shared by fellow firefighter Pete Drummond, will distress and upset many upon reading. It is a troubling account, but it illustrates the dangerous work firefighters can find themselves in, and how hard they will work to ensure as many people as possible are brought...