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This letter was first published in the Independent. Those of us who believe in a free and fair politics must stand up and be counted wherever we see an affront to democratic norms. That’s why I left Labour’s front bench. Last week I left my role championing democracy in the shadow cabinet. But not because I have any less passion and fire for...

Activists Slam 'Weasel Words' in New COP26 Text as Negotiators Water Down Climate Deal A new draft of the COP26 cover deal released on Friday appeared to be backing away from a call to end all use of coal and phase out fossil fuel subsidies completely. The latest draft proposal from the meeting’s chair calls on countries to accelerate "the phaseout...

John Pilger writes about how Julian Assange is a truth-teller who has committed no crime but revealed government crimes and lies on a vast scale and so performed one of the great public services of our time November 02, 2021 by John Pilger Julian Assange's plea to revoke new restrictions imposed on him by the Ecuadorian embassy was rejected, sparking fear...

BY NOAM CHOMSKY AND STAN COX. SOURCE TomDispatch This month will mark a critical juncture in the struggle to avoid climate catastrophe. At the COP26 global climate summit kicking off next week in Glasgow, Scotland, negotiators will be faced with the urgent need to get the world economy off the business-as-usual track that will take the Earth up to and beyond 3 degrees...

By Bernie Willcox Reading the papers reporting on the Labour Party Conference, the conventional wisdom seems to be that in order to win the next election, Labour has to move to the right and ditch the “unpopular” ideas associated with Jeremy Corbyn.  But is this true and what evidence is there that this would work and Kier Starmer could at...

15 September is Battle of Britain Day.  It commemorates the legendary air battle that took place in Britain’s skies, mainly – though not exclusively – over southern England, during the long hot summer and early autumn of 1940.  The conflict has achieved near mythical status in British history.  With the fall of France in June, Europe was dominated by...

The British public can no longer afford its governments to run reckless around the world with no heed to the long-term consequences, write Phil Miller and Mark Curtis. Britain’s regime change operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria have been catastrophic. A key reason is that UK policy has no moral consistency — friends and enemies are interchangeable over time, based...

By Jessica Brain On 28th August 1833 a very important act received its Royal Assent. The Slavery Abolition Law would finally be enacted, after years of campaigning, suffering and injustice. This act was a crucial step in a much wider and ongoing process designed to bring an end to the slave trade. Only a few decades previously, in 1807 another act...

Whoever bought Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and other US defence stocks made a literal killing With the fall of Kabul, Pepe Escobar says it’s becoming clear that financial soft power tactics may be even more deadly than a NATO occupation. By Pepe EscobarThe Asia Times  After 20 years and a staggering $2.23 trillion spent in a “forever war” persistently spun as promoting democracy...

Forward Prof Andrew Baker of Sheffield University and “anti-poverty campaigner and tax expert” Prof Richard Murphy were awarded the Cambridge University Press Award for Excellence in Social Policy Scholarship for their article "Modern Monetary Theory and the Changing Role of Tax in Society" in the academic Social Policy Association's 2021 Awards round. This important paper uses insights from Modern Monetary...