Tag: austerity

Britain’s Indignant Moment? Grenfell, Neoliberalism and the New Common Sense
The Grenfell Tower fire has been described as May's 'Katrina moment', but the grief and outrage following the disaster has also been accompanied by a tide of anti-neoliberal sentiment.
How Croydon Went Red
Here's how Tory Gavin Barwell, author of the book 'How to Win a Marginal Seat', saw his majority of just 165 overturned by Labour candidate Sarah Jones with the help of Momentum and some very dedicated campaigners.
How Conservative Austerity Cost the UK Billions
Since 2010, the Conservatives have repeatedly claimed that only they can be trusted to run the economy. Where a prodigal Labour party would run the economy into the ground with excess spending, they say they're prepared to take the 'common-sense' approach of austerity. Raoul Martinez argues that this story doesn't ring true; austerity is a recipe for economic misery.
Killing Us Softly: A Short History of Biopower in the NHS
This week's long read exposes the phony narrative of an NHS for all, instead revealing an institution that has, from its conception, existed to serve the needs of capital.
Care Under Austerity: The Myth of Emotional Scarcity
Austerity is founded upon a myth of material scarcity. But this myth maps onto and produces another: that of the scarcity of our emotional capacities for care.
Home Sweet Home: Solving Ireland’s Housing Crisis
Ireland is facing the most severe housing crisis in its modern history. Last year fewer than 13,000 new homes were built, while demand is running at 25,000 a year. The Home Sweet Home campaign offers up tangible solutions to the crisis, using direct action to cut through empty political rhetoric.
5 Ways May is as Bad as Trump
The eyes of the world are on Trump, but are we missing the parallels between his administration and Theresa May's government? From immigration to sexism to climate change, here are 5 ways that May is as bad as Trump.
The Meaning of Home
The UK is in the grip of an acute housing shortage. Prices are sky high and not nearly enough new homes are being built. But even for those who do manage to get accommodation, it is often unstable and of poor quality, with the threat of eviction omnipresent.
Defunding the Diaspora: Sri Lankan Tamil Communities at the Forefront of Government Cuts
Seven years on from the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, and the ongoing oppression of the Tamil community by the Sri Lankan government should make it harder for the UK to ignore the needs of London’s Sri Lankan refugees and incoming asylum seekers. But community spaces that support London’s Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora are struggling in the face of ongoing cuts to local governments.
Self Employed? You’re Probably in Poverty
Aaron Bastani looks at how the self-employed are hardest hit by falling wages.
The Consequences of Top-Down Economics Are Not Accidental – But There’s Cause for Hope
It's no coincidence the rich are getting richer while public services grind to a halt. Both sides of the Atlantic, depressed wages and demoralised towns are the creation of our economic system.
‘We build a wall around our sanctuaries’: Queerness and Precarity
Feminists have identified that paid work depends on unpaid female labour performed within the household. But what happens queer folk; those denied access to the traditional household unit, forced to find other ways to support themselves? Joni Pitt (Cohen) and Sophie Monk explore the idea that, in some ways, queerness is precarity. 
We Need To Talk About How Mental Health is Political
Shon Faye looks at the politics of mental illness. The biases of how it's defined, who gets diagnosed and how people affected can resist discrimination and cuts to vital services.
Has the centre-left collapsed?
Whatever you think of Blair, Owen Smith and Corbyn it's undeniable that Europe is facing a crisis of social democracy? Aaron Bastani looks at recent history and asks has the centre-left collapsed?
Take Back the City: The Disillusioned Londoners Calling for Radical Democracy.
Take Back the City proposes a radically different vision of political organising. In a city riven with social divisions and worsening living conditions, can it hope to achieve change for ordinary Londoners?
Brexit, Labour, Immigration & Trident – Paul Mason in conversation
Aaron Bastani talks to journalist and filmmaker Paul Mason on immigration caps, keeping trident and why he ditched mainstream TV journalism to rally behind Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.
God’s Own Country For Tories
As Cameron steps aside, where better to examine his legacy than in his own constituency in Oxfordshire where county council cuts have destroyed vital public services, putting hundreds of people at risk.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Brexit
Two weeks on from the referendum Ash Sarkar visits Barking, which voted 62% leave, and looks at the way class and race shape inequality and political disenfranchisement.