Homes, Not Assets
For years, our political class has treated housing as a moneymaking vehicle at the expense of providing decent homes. New polling shows even homeowners think it’s time for that to change.
4303 Articles by:
Rae Hart
Rae Deer is an economist and freelance writer.
The Fakenham Work-In at 50
When a shoe factory in the small Norfolk town of Fakenham was slated for closure in 1972, its women workers barricaded themselves inside and began a work-in. 50 years later, their struggle should be remembered.
The Rent Is Too Damn High
Housing is driving the cost of living crisis, with private rents in England the highest ever recorded. That will only change through a struggle of renters against the rentiers.
In Worthing and Barrow, Bin Workers Are Fighting Back
Britain’s bin workers were clapped as heroes during the pandemic, but that appreciation was never reflected in their pay packets – in Worthing and Barrow, they’re striking to get what they deserve.
Who Was Elizabeth Eden?
Elizabeth Eden, whose story was dramatised by 1975 film ‘Dog Day Afternoon,’ was a pioneering trans figure in popular culture – but her political impact runs far deeper than a botched bank robbery.
Britain’s Debt Tsunami
New polling shows that 3 million people expect cost of living increases to push them into debt, joining 8.5 million people already struggling to repay – to avoid another disaster, it’s time for a debt writedown.
‘Homes for Ukraine’ Is More Scam than Scheme
Out of 28,300 applications, just 2,700 visas have been issued to refugees through Homes for Ukraine – suggesting the scheme is more about deflecting political pressure than solidarity with those fleeing war.
This Isn’t a Cost of Living Crisis – It’s a Class War
From rising bills to falling wages to the P&O scandal, the Tory government is presiding over a collapsing economy for workers – and it can only be fought by trade union organisation.
Islington’s Co-operative Future
As part of its Community Wealth Building agenda, Islington is launching a new scheme to kickstart the borough’s co-operative economy – and put power back in workers’ hands.
How Sunak Lost His Sparkle
Rishi Sunak saw out the pandemic hailed by the media as a hero, but he was never a real friend to normal people – and his refusal to fight the cost of living crisis makes that fact unavoidable.
The University Casualisation Crisis Must End
Growing numbers of university staff face gig economy conditions with low pay and no security. Now they’re striking – not just for their own conditions, but for the future of higher education.
Lift the Public Bus Ban
Since 2017, local councils have been banned from setting up their own municipal bus companies. The government promised to review the ban a year ago – now, with our for-profit public transport in deepening crisis, it’s time to deliver.
The Class War Can’t be Won in the Courts
Left-wing lawfare is a growing phenomenon – but legal challenges simply can’t replace the power of organised labour.
74. Imperialism and the Energy Crisis w/ David Wearing
This week, Grace chats to David Wearing, author of ‘AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain’, about Boris Johnson’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia and the UAE – and how the energy crisis will transform world politics.
Justice for Scottish Miners
Hundreds of Scottish miners were wrongly convicted during the 1984-5 strike, and their lives and livelihoods destroyed as a result. Scotland now has a chance to right that wrong with both pardons and compensation – and must take it.
In the Shadow of Jeremy Kyle
For years The Jeremy Kyle Show shamed and demonised poor people, recasting social problems as individual failings. The programme might now be over, but the wildly unequal world it helped justify endures.
Vaccines for Public Health, Not Profit
The Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre was set up with £200 million in public money just four years ago. Now the Tories are now selling it off – and yet again risking public health to make a quick buck.
As I Please: Partygate Is the Beginning of the End for Boris Johnson
A quiet revolution is under way, and the most organised cohort of Tory MPs is the one plotting the PM’s downfall.
Red Library: Science Fiction
There has always been an affinity between socialism and science fiction, a genre that makes clear it is still possible to imagine new societies — however much our miserable politics might claim otherwise.
Ways of Ending
Mike Leigh’s apocalyptic ‘Naked’ was a terrifying picture of early 1990s Britain, alone in the director’s oeuvre in its brutal pessimism. How does it stand up in the equally bleak early 2020s?