Born on this day in 1931, the heroic revolutionary faces a dangerous new wave of White House aggression. We must treat his birthday as a rallying cry to resist the illegal siege of Cuba, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Latest editorial
A (hospital) bed for the night
People know that today’s disputes are not the cause of a crisis within the NHS – it is the crisis of NHS underfunding that led to the disputes, argues ALAN SIMPSON
Nurses on strike outside St Thomas's hospital in central London
RAMZY BAROUD decries the rats of Gaza, the rodent and human type. Both abound as profiteering from tragedy reaches obscene levels
When gas company bosses gorged on assets, the GMB union fought back with the help of a 20-stone saddleback sow. MAT COWARD tells the story
JOHN REES looks at why the June 20 international anti-war conference is such a vital initiative
ROGER McKENZIE highlights how health workers in DRC are struggling to contain a deadly Ebola outbreak in a region already suffering conflict, aid cuts and a legacy of imperialist degradation
Associate Professor BUI QUANG TUAN explains how modernisation and growth are helping to unlock new foreign investment in the Vietnamese economy
I hear that in New York
At the corner of 26th street and Broadway
A man stands every evening during the winter months And gets beds for the homeless there
By appealing to passers-by.
–
A few people have a bed for the night
For a night the wind is kept from them
The snow meant for them falls on the roadway But it won’t change the world
It won’t improve relations among men
It will not shorten the age of exploitation.
Bertolt Brecht’s poem (A Bed for the Night) wasn’t written for today’s NHS disputes but it does address the same contradictions.
Brecht’s reflections offer a stark contrast to the fatuous claims of John Redwood MP that if there’s a shortage of NHS beds, just buy some more. Here is a politician who clearly understands nothing.
Similar stories
The election offers a critical chance to shape the future of pay, care and community provision in Wales, says Unison’s JESS TURNER
While politicians fixate on defence budgets, the real answers lie in peace-building and economic justice, says ALAN SIMPSON
In the second part of her critique of Wes Streeting’s TenYear Plan for Health, HELEN MERCER looks at the central planks of this privatisation blueprint
MATT WRACK issues a clarion call for a rejuvenation of public services for the sake of our communities and our young people