By KD Tait For many years the left has fought for increases to strike funds. During the globalisation years, these funds dwindled as bureaucrats kept strike action at an all-time low. With the return of mass strikes in 2022, many unions have replenished their strike funds. And as the left has made gains in certain […]

By KD Tait The delay in Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, originally promised as a flagship piece of legislation aimed at strengthening workers’ rights, is a betrayal of the workers and trade unions who put the party into power. When Labour was elected, the ERB, championed by Angela Rayner, was positioned as a pivotal piece of […]

By Rebecca Anderson The Tories are up in arms, demanding Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner intervenes in the Birmingham bin strike. Their aim? Convene a Cobra meeting and break the strike by drafting in private sector scab labour. The Tories’ letter calls for a Cobra meeting to ‘ensure a co-ordinated response between national and local […]

By Dave Stockton On 25 February, the government website proclaimed ‘Prime Minister sets out biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.’ It promised ‘a reinvigorated approach to defence industry will drive economic growth and create jobs across the UK’, in an ‘era of intensifying geopolitical competition and conflict.’ The next day Whitehall […]

By Dara O’Cogaidhin Young people’s mental health has been deteriorating across Britain, compounded by the cost of living crisis, public spending cuts, and rising inequality. According to the Centre for Mental Health, one in five children and young people aged 8-25 experience mental health difficulties. Today’s young people have the poorest mental health of any […]

A PCS member In a move reminiscent of the coalition government of the 2010s, Rachel Reeves has announced a sweeping 15% cut to the civil service administration budget. Reeves’ spring statement was a clear signal to the markets that Labour will hold to their self-imposed fiscal rules by slashing the public sector and making the […]

By Martin Suchanek The bilateral Russia-US talks for a 30 day-ceasefire are in a crisis. Donald Trump says he is ‘very angry’ and ‘pissed off’ with Putin for attacking Zelensky’s credibility and demanding a UN administration replace him as a condition for a ceasefire. Trump, in turn, is threatening to impose a 50% tariff on […]

By Dave Stockton On 18 March at 2.10am Israel restarted bombing the homes of civilians across Gaza, ending the two-month ceasefire. Its pretext was that Hamas would not agree to an extension of stage one, which would allow Israel Defence Forces to remain in the Strip indefinitely, while all the hostages are released. As we […]

By KD Tait As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, unveiled her spring statement, the echoes of austerity reverberated across the nation. Although wrapped in rhetoric about investment and growth, the proposals unveiled are far from the transformative change this country desperately needs. Instead, they are a continuation of policies that prioritise the wealthiest […]

By Tim Nailsea In her Spring Statement on Wednesday 26 March, Chancellor Rachael Reeves announced a round of vicious cuts to disability benefits. The government is altering the points system for PIP to make it harder for people to claim the benefit. Claimants will have to display ‘greater difficulty’ in completing tasks, with a requirement […]