US company walks away
31 October 2025
A major rare earths refining company, Pensana, which had intended since 2017 to set up processing at the Saltend Chemicals Park near Hull, has decided to invest in the US instead.
Government ramps up powers
31 October 2025
The government plans to “crack down on fraud” by introducing new legislation which includes powers to access private bank accounts. This authoritarian move is being criticised.
Government head in the clouds
31 October 2025
Labour government promises of transforming the civil service may be going the same way as many earlier attempts. But this time in addition they seem to have fallen for the charms of big tech companies.
Airport sale – bad news
31 October 2025
London City Airport is now effectively under the control of investment giant Macquarie. In October the Australian-based multinational group moved to acquire 50 per cent of the business just four months after an initial 25 per cent stake.
National Park calls for water action
31 October 2025
The disgraceful state of our rivers and lakes is due to lack of investment by the profit-oriented owners. The South Downs National Park has called for drastic action to improve the health of rivers and lakes in its area.
Nord Stream and the war in Ukraine
31 October 2025
In September 2022, three of the four pipelines connecting Germany and Russia were blown up. At the time this was blamed on Russia, which had invaded Ukraine a few months earlier. That may not be the case.
Universities: free speech
30 October 2025
New laws protect the freedom of speech at universities in England. This is necessary because too many bodies have actively promoted constraints on academic freedom.
Retail: Shops, not stalls
A campaign is developing in Wanstead, in North-East London, to save its High Street.
Broken promises on borders
19 September 2025
The latest data on immigration shows that Britain does not control its borders and that Labour has broken its promises.
Tube workers take responsibility
19 September 2025
London Underground workers have been on strike over pay and conditions, bringing travel on the tube to a halt for a week. They say TfL has ignored their concerns for too long.
Manchester bus drivers set to strike
19 September 2025
Bus drivers at three Manchester operators are taking coordinated strike action from 19 to 22 September. They have rejected low pay increases offered by the profitable companies as derisory.
Electricity prices: driven by dogma
28 August 2025
Electricity prices are high and liable to further increase. The regulator isn’t tackling the government policy behind this.
Save ceramics – the Potter’s Pledge
28 August 2025
The GMB trade union has launched a campaign to save what is left of the British ceramics industry, hit hard by rising energy costs. But it is a vital sector supplying other industries.
Scottish Library censorship
28 August 2025
A book, The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, has been banned from an exhibition at the National Library of Scotland, despite oringinally being selected to be part of it.
Threat to allotments is real
28 August 2025
Planning changes have made it easier for councils to sell off allotments, prompting criticism. The threat is real, despite government assurances.
Bioethanol: largest plant closes
28 August 2025
The government’s trade deal with the US has led to the closure of Britain’s largest bioethanol plant on Humberside. Trade unions and companies in the industry have criticised the closure.
Time to talk about immigration
According to the most recent figures from the Office of National Statistics, the population of England and Wales rose by 706,881 in a year, to 61.8 million by June 2024.
Organise! Educate! Control!
When workers discuss the state Britain is in, the question that follows inevitably is what can be done about it? It’s a tough question, one not yet answered.
The future for water: as clear as muck
A new government-commissioned report into the water industry is good (in parts) at identifying glaring problems. But its proposals go nowhere near what is needed, and risk fragmenting the industry even further…
Is the tide turning on net zero?
After years of bluster and unrealistic charges, not to speak of soaring energy costs for consumers, influential voices are questioning the logic of the reckless obsession with the net zero dogma…
Welfare and work
Capitalists have never wanted to pay workers who through illness – or because there is no work for them – are unable to work. The priority, though, is not better benefits. It is work for all who can…
Another plan? The NHS needs a rebuild
Workers want shorter waiting lists for NHS treatment, and to be able to see a real doctor in a reasonable timeframe. That’s a long way off…
Britain in the red
Borrowing is on the rise, and debt interest is a big part of government expenditure…
Industry. It’s our life blood.
Our class and our country are bound up with industry, that is, the work we do to produce the goods that make a civilised society. Industry embodies our independence and our national unity…
Trade wars and the threat to jobs
‘Successive governments consistently avoided the question of self-sufficiency through industry…’
US provocation and war in Europe
Why have peace talks between Ukraine and Russia been so difficult ever since the invasion in February 2022? The answer: NATO…
Lindsey refinery set to close
Liquidators have taken over Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire, which is set to close.
Food: Meals factory victory
Workers at Wrexham’s Oscar Mayer ready meals factory are celebrating after concluding their long-running industrial dispute with the company...
1787: The Calton Weavers
In 1787 six striking weavers from the Calton area of Glasgow were killed and many more injured. The annual commemoration of their watershed struggle is building towards the 240th anniversary in 2027.