News and socialist analysis

New openings for militant trade unionism

The victory of Sharon Graham as general secretary of Unite has struck the labour movement as a thunderbolt. This can be a pivotal moment.

Workers' politics won't come from Labour

In addressing TUC Congress, Sir Keir Starmer claimed that "Labour will always stand with the unions", standing "shoulder to shoulder" with them over vicious attacks such as 'fire and rehire'. But the reality is very different.

Energy market chaos makes the case for nationalisation

Millions of gas consumers face price hikes and uncertainty in supplies

Tory cuts to UC: we need a union fightback

From 6 October Universal Credit will be cut by £20 per week

Famine in Madagascar

The problems that climate change will pose for food production are already being felt in Madagascar. The country's south has faced four years of back-to-back droughts which have wiped out harvests. As

Life expectancy falls - a condemnation of capitalism

I often think when I hear that a member of the royal family has died at the ripe old age of 101 - 'didn't they have a good innings, they mustn't grumble!'

Tax fraud could be over £20 billion annually

The think tank Taxwatch estimates as much as £15.2 billion of UK tax lost in 2020 was from fraudulent activity - almost half of uncollected income.

Socialists and the four-day week

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with fears of rising unemployment as the furlough scheme is wound up, and the full extent of the economic scarring from the pandemic is revealed, there are also increased demands around improved work-life balance after a year of many working from home

Working class under attack

Low pay, benefit cuts, tax increases, price rises: The bosses and the Tories are putting millions of workers through even more hell. The cost of living has soared with inflation rising to 3.2% - following its highest-ever recorded monthly increase. Rent

We need a new political party for workers and youth

Boris Johnson's lies about 'leveling up' working-class communities are being destroyed as the austerity is stepped up. Higher national insurance, Universal Credit cuts and a freeze on the income tax allowance will take £1,040 a year away from the average supermarket worker.

Hands off the uplift

The government doesn't seem to want to budge on removing the £1,000 a year uplift

What's behind the worker shortages, and what can be done about it?

'Job openings' are at 1.66 million, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation

Deaths of despair: Health crisis - capitalism in the dock

Health services on every continent and in practically every country have struggled to stem the rising numbers of Covid victims

Take the wealth off the super-rich to fund: NHS and social care, pay and benefit rises

You couldn't make it up. As workers in health, local government and education are balloting on insulting pay offers from the government, Johnson and the Tories announce yet another pay cut: a 1.25% increase

Social care plans: A sticking plaster instead of surgery

Social care has been in crisis for decades. Successive governments have deliberately diverted resources from care provision into the pockets of big business through privatisation. Despite the hype, Boris

Unite young and old to defend the pensions triple lock

The UK State Pension is £179.60 a week, among the lowest in Europe. It leaves over 2 million pensioners in poverty.

Climate change, capitalism, and the struggle for socialism

Recent extreme weather has claimed lives and destroyed homes and infrastructure

Union action needed to make schools Covid safe

Staff, school students, and their families understandably want the new academic year to be a return to 'normality'

A pivotal moment for the trade union movement

This year's TUC Congress will provide the first public platform for newly elected Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.

NHS and social care - make the rich pay, not the workers

Social care is in crisis and needs fixing. There's no doubt about that. Over 40,000 died from Covid in care homes during the pandemic in an overwhelmingly privatised system that puts profit before safety.