The fight for a future
One battle ends, but the war goes on. With the end of British involvement in the EU comes a new beginning – the fight for real independence…
Features
Features
Facing up to Britain’s logistics challenge
The overwhelming reliance on road transport to keep the country functioning is a growing problem – for health, for the environment, and not least for passenger transport…
Agriculture unchained
New developments in agricultural policy give some idea of our potential future as a sovereign nation…
A nation for tourism
Visitors from abroad recognise Britain as one nation – something tour operators are well aware of…
The arts in a time of coronavirus
While a significant minority in the cultural industries cried (literally) over their imagined loss through Brexit, coronavirus succeeded in uniting the country around a cause all corners of Britain could agree on: survival…
New money for energy, new commitment
The government’s latest announcement on energy policy is full of positive signs, with a welcome wish to use government procurement to boost jobs and investment here. But workers will want more than promises…
Devolving health: it doesn’t make sense
For Britain to persist with devolved health services is a nonsense – economies of scale are being lost and during the current health crisis efforts are being dissipated. A look at Scotland indicates the scale of the problem…
Break the separatist mindset!
There are now six months to blunt the axe of those who plan to break up Britain. But encouragingly, those who are pushing for fragmentation are increasingly seeking to tear each other apart too…
What future for Britain’s railways?
With nationalisation the only sensible option for rail, the government is moving swiftly to avoid doing it. Instead, it is looking to turn the industry upside down, with huge implications for jobs, pay, conditions and services…
The future of money
In a world where much commerce is conducted digitally and cash use is falling, the central banks are stuck in the past, supplying notes and coins while credit is controlled by the private retail banks. But that could soon change…
Time to take control of our food
Those who advocate a free trade deal with the US claiming that it will lower food prices are putting the cart before the horse. We don’t need free trade – we need a strategy for food production, and its distribution…
Fighting Covid-19, Cuba-style
Socialist Cuba continues to demonstrate the inherent strength of its society through its capacity to bring a rise in Covid-19 infections under control – while continuing to innovate and resist the attacks on it from the US…
Why high-quality apprenticeships matter
The ability of a nation to support itself in the long term depends on renewing and rebuilding skills. That means providing proper apprenticeships to every young person suited for one – not the current mess…
Seizing the future for Britain's workers
The dominance of finance capital has dragged Britain deep into debt, even before Covid-19. Rebuilding the economy after the ravages of the pandemic will require a completely different approach…
Working from home: who benefits?
“Working from home” has long been an option in many jobs. Now millions of workers have found they have to. For some the dream has turned out to be a nightmare…
Poverty and riches - the sad tale of Britain's food
How can an island with an ideal climate for growing food be so dependent on imports on the one hand, and have so many millions of its people living in food poverty on the other?
Time to end energy dependence
Dogged by EU rules on state support, bedevilled by government indifference over decades, Britain’s energy policy needs a radical overhaul…
A future for fashion?
Experiences during the Covid pandemic plus new technologies could help rebuild the clothing industry…
We need a discussion, not a postmortem
Covid-19 has revealed the evil effects of the criminal fragmentation of Britain’s health and social care. The so-called internal market has failed. Workers must ensure that we never again face such a calamity…
How about a real industrial strategy?
A union plan called Manufacturing Matters has been launched. With Covid-19 and Brexit, we not only desperately need a plan for a manufacturing-based recovery – we also have the opportunity to implement it…
Transport firms slash jobs under Covid-19 cover
The Covid-19 crisis has presented both opportunity and cover for the owners of transport operators to attack jobs, pay, and conditions of well organised British workers at a time when they are vulnerable…
A sustainable future for higher education
No wonder universities are in a financial mess. Wedded to a business model that relied on speculative investment to bring in increasing numbers of foreign students, they are going to have to re-focus on Britain to survive…
Separatists’ fear of the ballot box grows
Unable to achieve its aims through democratic means, the SNP is edging towards a set of manoeuvres that would see Scotland leaving Britain by stealth…
Yes, it’s a crisis. And time to ask hard questions
Workers in the NHS, and all of us who use it should insist that never again can it be allowed to face such an epidemic with such limited resources…
Transport safety takes a back seat to profit
Keen to profit from the Covid-19 crisis, transport companies have been eagerly queuing up with their begging bowls, while ensuring that workers bear the brunt of the reductions in services…
Wales – more unity, not more devolution
In Wales – as in Scotland – shrill voices are calling for more devolved powers. But many are asking whether Wales needs any more devolution. The coronavirus crisis has made the question even more important…
EU vs the environment
The European Union poses as the protector of the environment – despite a disastrous record…
Wanted: vaccines
No one can say Britain wasn’t warned about its vaccine capacity, and yet very little was done…