This is a very sad loss.
As leader of the GLC and then Mayor of London, I worked with Martin and people from all parties who wanted to bring about dialogue and a peace process in Ireland.
Martin played a key role in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement – an example of a peace process which has been learnt from throughout the world.
As Deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly he then tirelessly worked for peace and reconciliation.
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KEN LIVINGSTONE slams a government taking us off a precipice with no parachute.
“TORY Britain in 2017: NHS crisis, social care nightmare, school budgets cut for first time since ’90s, cuts to disabled and riots in our prisons.”
This was how shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s tweet summed up austerity Britain on the eve of the recent Budget.
He could have added that 3,000 people use foodbanks each day and that over 4,000 people sleep rough each night.
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Tory Britain in 2017: NHS crisis, social care nightmare, school budgets cut for 1st time since 90s, cuts to disabled and riots in our prisons.
This was how Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s tweet summed up austerity Britain on the eve of this week’s budget.
He could have added three thousand people use food banks each day and that over four thousand people sleep rough each night.
And this of course is just the tip of the iceberg – the majority of people are now seeing a real squeeze in living standards and wages, which is set to deepen in the years ahead.
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The Tory pursuit of a ‘hard Brexit’ and bargain-basement Britain spells big dangers for the economy, writes KEN LIVINGSTONE.
TWO bits of news last week showed how, despite media spin around Theresa May and Philip Hammond “resetting” government economic policy, they remain committed to ideologically driven austerity.
The first was that the Treasury has asked government departments to prepare for cuts of 3 per cent and 6 per cent, for 2019-20.
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Some of the statements coming out of the White House such as the idea that more countries should get nuclear weapons or that climate change is a Chinese hoax may appear deranged but actually do constitute a real threat that needs to be vigorously opposed, says KEN LIVINGSTONE.
Donald Trump’s stances on two issues — climate change and nuclear weapons — illustrate clearly how reactionary and dangerous to us all his presidency is.
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A report this week found that the worsening cost of living crisis will lead to the biggest rise in inequality since Thatcher, writes Ken Livingstone.
The Resolution Foundation warned this week that falling living standards for the poor in the period ahead will threaten the biggest rise in inequality since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.
In response, Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell commented that: “It demonstrates to us all once again that the economy under a Tory government will be rigged for those at the top with poor and middle income households facing their worst parliament for income growth for a period of time.”
What the findings mean is that the current parliament would be the worst for living standards of the poorest half of households since records began.
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The fast approaching February elections will decide whether Ecuador continues on a path of social progress and development or reverts to old patterns of inequality and exploitation, says Ken Livingstone.
THIS has been a big week for Ecuador. The country took on the presidency of the influential G77 and China group of developing countries and has marked 10 years of the Citizens’ Revolution, the name given to the change that has taken place in the country since President Rafael Correa took office on a wave of popular protest following decades of brutal neoliberalism.
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Over the past months we have seen a stream of stats and reports showing the extent of the mounting problems facing the NHS due to Tory austerity, which has meant cuts and persistent underfunding, and the accompanying crisis in social care, culminating with the Red Cross declaring a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in the NHS.
Teresa May’s response has been to bury her head in the sand.
But this crisis is of the Government’s making.
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We must take back our railways from the greedy hands of the privileged few and return them to their rightful owners, argues Ken Livingstone.
THIS week, ridiculous fare rises to customers on our railways joined the ongoing issues with Southern Rail as what must become yet further nails in the coffin of the failed experiment that has been the privatisation of our railways.
These increases mean that rail fares are going up by 2.3 per cent on average in 2017, so passengers will feel a squeeze on their pockets at a time of an approaching cost of living crisis.
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Nobody should be under any illusions as to the reason for mounting pressure on the health service, argues Ken Livingstone – it’s government policy.
OVER the past months we have seen a stream of stats and reports showing the extent of the mounting problems facing the NHS due to Tory austerity, which has meant cuts and persistent underfunding, and the accompanying crisis in social care.
These are a consequence of the largest financial squeeze in the NHS’s history, meaning that by 2018 NHS spending per head will be falling.
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