News

5,000 disabled people get benefit payments—but only after their deaths

Some 5,000 ill and disabled benefit claimants have died before being repaid thousands of pounds owed to them due to a government error.

Royal Mail strikes could be in pipeline after union leader calls for fresh ballot

The fight for the future of Royal Mail is heating up again after a union leader announced plans for another national strike ballot.

Scottish climate activists protest against system rigged for oil companies

Climate rebels in Aberdeen positioned themselves on oil firm Shell’s doorstep on Thursday to “point the finger at people who are responsible” for climate catastrophe.

Otis Bolamu wins right to remain in Britain after determined campaign

Anti-racists in West Wales are celebrating after Otis Bolamu was granted the right to stay in Britain on Wednesday.

Labour leadership hopefuls battle it out at key hustings

Forty seconds to answer a question is perfect for a politician. It gives you just enough time to sound as if you’ve said something, without saying anything much.

Billionaires get richer

The world’s 500 wealthiest people added £1,000 billion to their wealth last year

France at a crossroads

Richard Greeman, a Marxist writer and activist best known for his work on Victor Serge, looks at why Macron is so determined, and asks how workers can win

Reports round-up: Australia bushfire protest, opposition to Stratford development and more

Police intimidation as workers fight for rights

Security staff at St George’s University Hospitals Trust (SGUL) in west London started 15 days of strikes on Monday—and immediately faced police action.

Schools and councils round-up: strikes over ‘bullying,’ academies and more

Workers at St Catherine’s Catholic School for Girls in south east London resumed their strikes this week with a three-day walkout from Tuesday.

More universities could join new wave of UCU action

Workers in 37 UCU union branches are reballoting for strikes. The branches voted overwhelmingly for walkouts in initial ballots, but failed to meet the Tories’ 50 percent turnout threshold for legal strikes.

No to witchhunt of Kirklees Unison reps

Four Unison union branch officers in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, remain suspended by their own union without knowing the charges against them.

Children at risk because of care crisis

The Children’s Commissioner has warned that social care is “in crisis” after new figures showed the number of children in care has reached a ten-year high.

Nearly 100,000 patients made to wait for accident and emergency departments

A record-breaking number of patients have been forced to wait for more than an hour before being admitted from ambulances into accident and emergency (A&E) departments.

Protesters say no to war with Iran

Thousands of people marched in central London, and hundreds protested in other towns and cities

Reports round-up: vigil against antisemitism

It was a response to antisemitic graffiti

Metro strike wins new offer

Workers on the Tyne and Wear Metro delivered a bloody nose to bosses

Fighting South West Rail bosses and anti-union laws

Rail workers on South Western Railway ended a with a vow to battle Boris Johnson’s attacks on their right to strike

Resist Trump’s drive to war with Iran

US president Donald Trump was threatening yet more major acts of war in the Middle East following the assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.