In the wake of his recent humanitarian visit to Cuba, RICHARD BURGON points to the now urgent need to defend the island’s political sovereignty and its right to self-determination
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What do Marxists say about the housing crisis?
The MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY explains how in a socialist society, decent housing would be seen as a right, not a commodity
Thousands of jobs are at risk across higher education, yet government funding appears only when universities can be linked to military objectives, says JO GRADY, in the run-up to the Stop the War International Conference this Saturday
The Wye, Usk, Arrow and Lugg were once treasured for their clean waters – today, pollution and corporate excess are fuelling demands for a return to public ownership, says MARK SEDDON
The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Rising support for Farage’s party reflects Labour’s failure to defend working-class living standards or offer a credible alternative to neoliberal decline, says JOSEPH MILLS
Trade unionists are mobilising to support Cuban workers and public services, amid escalating US pressure on the socialist island. RONAN OGILVY explains
HOUSING today, especially in Britain, emphasises the contradiction between the basic need of the many for somewhere to live and the unnatural bloated wealth of the few. Homes have become a key part of our commodified economy.
Big business is reliant on the housing market for growth, millions of people live in inadequate, insecure and, for some, dangerous homes and nearly 5,000 people sleep rough every night on our streets. Meanwhile those with “capital” buy property as an investment device or tax dodge and often leave it empty.
Some of the council estates built after World War I as well as after World War II were superior not just to the slums they replaced but also to much speculative “working-class” housing built more recently, though then, as now, residents are distanced from engagement in the process of construction and design.
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CAROL WILCOX argues for the proper implementation of the land value tax, which could see unused plots sold off and landlords priced out of landlordism, potentially resolving the housing and planning crises
Our housing crisis isn’t an accident – it’s class war, trapping millions in poverty while landlords and billionaires profit. To solve it, we need comprehensive transformation, not mere tokenistic reform, writes BECK ROBERTSON