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
MATHEMATICALLY, it was impressive stuff. Chancellor Rishi Sunak stood at the House of Commons dispatch box and reeled off a series of bountiful spending statistics.
For this year and next, he pledged an extra £65bn support for the economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis. The furlough job subsidy scheme will be extended until the end of September (£7bn) along with aid for the self-employed (£11bn net); reducing VAT will save the hospitality and leisure sectors almost £5bn; and businesses will benefit from higher capital investment allowances (£25bn), a rates freeze (£7bn) and many other grants and tax breaks.
Extending the £20 a week uplift in universal credit to the end of September will cost the Treasury just over £2bn and paying £500 to some working tax credit recipients about £765m.
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT
It’s the dramatic rise of China with its burgeoning economy that has put the Trump administration into a frenzy – with major implications both at home and abroad, argues MICHAEL BURKE
Under current policy, welfare cuts are just a small downpayment on future austerity, argues MICHAEL BURKE


