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NEU to teach Pimlico Academy a lesson - News from the Frontline

Counterfire's weekly digest with the latest on strikes and workplace struggles
India’s Covid apocalypse: ‘Super spreader’ Modi lets the bodies pile high

Narendra Modi and his far right government stand foursquare at the heart of the horror unfolding in India, argues Susan Ram
Why nurses are considering strike action

Health workers are preparing to fight against the insulting 1% pay offer and they need our support more than ever, argues NHS nurse Stacey Richardson
When the clapping stops, the action begins - weekly briefing

Lindsey German returns with the implications of the healthcare fight for our side and theirs
Learning little: Johnson and the great schools gamble

David McAllister responds to Boris Johnson's "big bang" school reopening plans for 8 March
It’s not the vaccine, it’s the vacuousness: polling, politics and the Starmer slump

Chris Nineham argues Starmer's poor polling can't be blamed on vaccine success
The government’s gamble with workers’ lives – CounterBlast

New TUC data shows that the Tories have continually failed to protect workers who have been forced to work in unsafe conditions, writes Terina Hine
Brazil: escalating covid deaths pile the pressure on Bolsonaro

The view is growing that Brazil’s calamitous covid death toll is the result of a deliberate strategy by Bolsonaro, finds Orlando Hill
Why we need a People’s Covid Inquiry

Britain has the worst Covid-19 death rate per capita in the world and the public deserves to know how and why this has happened, argues Tom Lock Griffiths
The virus is evolving but the government's policies aren't - CounterBlast

Never mind dealing with the new variants effectively, Johnson's government is still failing to implement measures it should have done a year ago, writes Terina Hine
It’s a Sin: lots of heart, but not a lot of politics - review

While Russell T. Davies’ new drama is both touching and engaging, it’s only a part of the story, argues Martin Hall
Goldsmiths UCU: leading the charge with words and action - Branch Solidarity Network bulletin February 2021

Branch Solidarity Network's February 2021 bulletin on the fightback at Goldsmiths University and the demands around workloads
Deja vu: Tories push to reopen schools before it's safe...again - CounterBlast

Just three weeks after the government's u-turn on schools, it is again pushing to do the same thing all over again, writes Terina Hine
The people the media's forgotten about: voices from the frontline

The media's attempt to blame the public for the virus has left out the voices of those who are having to work during lockdown, so we asked some of them to tell us about their experiences
Cuban Healthcare: The Ongoing Revolution - book review

Cuban Healthcare provides a stimulating overview of the possibilities of a healthcare system free of the profit motive, but lacks some critical distance, argues Caitlin Southern
Despatches from the frontline: nurse speaks on hospitals crisis

Stacey Richardson, a nurse in north east England, explains how health workers have been impacted by the pandemic and the dire state of hospitals right now
The Tory failures behind Britain's world-beating Covid death rate - CounterBlast

Positive vaccine news cannot absolve the government of tens of thousands of avoidable deaths it's responsible for, argues Terina Hine
Covid crisis: 10 demands unions should be making now

As the Covid death toll crosses 100,000, these are some of the urgent demands the labour movement should be making on the government:
Tories are trying to blame us for their pandemic failures - CounterBlast

The moralising tone of ministers is a transparent attempt to deflect attention from their catastrophic incompetence, argues Sean Ledwith
Tories can’t be trusted to save lives and protect the NHS - weekly briefing

Alex Snowdon on Johnson's ceaseless governmental crisis and the fight for Zero Covid
This government has nothing to offer but U-turns

After yet another u-turn on schools, it's clear that organisation and popular pressure are the only antidotes to the Tories’ reckless handling of the pandemic, argues Kara Bryan
The government will not deal with the Covid emergency. The labour movement must step up.

The government is effectively continuing to pursue herd immunity. The movement must fight for a zero-Covid strategy, argues Chris Nineham
A lesson from the teachers: how to take on the government and win

The National Education Union has shown what a fighting union can achieve, says Tony Dowling
How school workers successfully organised against unsafe conditions

Simon Duckett, a school worker and NEU rep in South West England describes how collective action pushed back against the government
Our teachers were right, the government was wrong

The government’s delay on schools has shown how little they care about pupils and teachers and we’re sick and tired of it, writes Isabella, a secondary school student
Why are health workers still not getting the protection they need?

It’s an outrage that health workers are still not getting the PPE they need to keep themselves safe, writes Richard Allday
Keep schools closed: the rush to return is deadly

With record case numbers and hospitalisations, and increasing deaths, returning to school next week would be catastrophic, writes a secondary school teacher
Brazil: the fight for vaccines for all

Brazil has the productive capacity and experience to carry out a vaccination programme. Its main obstacle is Bolsonaro’s government, argues Orlando Hill
Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah: how the air that we breathe became a killer

The system’s poisoning of the planet has crossed a morbid threshold, notes Jamal Elaheebocus
Vaccines have no country - CounterBlast

The government’s jingoism has no bearing on reality, argues Terina Hine
Civil war in the Labour Party – weekly briefing

Alex Snowdon on Starmer’s offensive on the left and the fight for zero Covid
We are in for more Tory shambles with the Covid vaccine rollout

The Tories are depending on the Covid vaccine to bail them out, but they're likely to handle the rollout the same way they have the pandemic - catastrophically
Johnson hopes vaccines will get him off the hook - CounterBlast

Frederick Engels, born 200 years, ago identified the type of disastrous policy pursued by the Johnson government during the pandemic, argues Sean Ledwith
Growing university staff revolt as Northumbria UCU votes to strike

Members of UCU at Northumbria University have voted to strike over health and safety amid a growing number of branches escalating disputes and balloting
Covid crisis: what are YOU getting for Christmas?

Boris Johnson wants to return to an ineffective tier system to save profits for shops instead of people’s lives, writes Caitlin Southern
Covid vaccine and government contracts: another dose of Tory corruption - CounterBlast

The government has handed more than £17bn of lucrative Covid contracts to their mates who aren't delivering
Manchester students tear down fences in thousands-strong protest

Students are raging at being repeatedly let down by the government and universities. Fences were the last straw for Manchester students - so they brought them down
Covid-19: A Worker's Self-Defence Manual - Counterfire pamphlet

A Counterfire pamphlet by Richard Allday aimed at providing you with information about the virus and your rights at work
Tory lockdown rebels: a divided party responsible for Covid carnage - CounterBlast

Boris Johnson's half-baked lockdown is failing to appease Tory dissenters, and failing to protect the country, now is the time for action from below
Universities must lock down too

We must move teaching online, test students and allow them home argues Dragan Plavšić
We need a Zero-Covid strategy: our demands

The People's Assembly's ten point Zero-Covid Charter
A national lockdown without closing schools is not going to stop the virus

The government’s refusal to close schools and universities marks the latest in a string of failures to protect people from the pandemic, argues Caitlin Southern
Covid disparities: race is a factor but so is class

Structural racism is why ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to the virus, and it's a feature of class society not separate from it, argues Yonas Makoni
'Exhausted, angry and worried sick!': French health workers protest

French health and social care workers stage mass protests for better staffing, pay and conditions as a second wave of Covid-19 engulfs the country, writes Susan Ram
Experts’ dissent reflects collapse of coronavirus consensus - CounterBlast

The rift which has opened up between the government and scientific advisors further amplifies Johnson’s negligence, argues Alex Snowdon.
Covid: a Tory-made crisis - Counterfire Bulletin October 2020

Why we need a zero-Covid strategy, resistance on the frontline, carnage in America and a new direction for the left in this month's Counterfire bulletin
Against a false dilemma: we can save lives and livelihoods

Protecting people's lives and preventing hardship are not an either/or, what we need is the political will to do both, argues Chris Nineham
Warning from the wards: we are not prepared for the second surge

The government has simply not prepared the NHS for the second Covid wave combined with a winter crisis, warns Caitlin Southern
Teachers care about the safety of our schools; the government doesn’t

The failures of this government to control the pandemic have pushed schools and communities into an extremely difficult and dangerous situation, writes Sarah Kilpatrick
The Tories and Covid, not just incompetent but corrupt

The government’s privatisation of public services is at the heart of the Test and Trace failures and it’s costing lives, argues Lucy Nichols
Put students ahead of profit: the lesson of the Covid-19 outbreak at Scottish universities

Blaming students is a cynical move to distract from the deeper causes of the recent outbreaks, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
When the virus hits a primary school - a teacher's account

As the number of schools with coronavirus cases continues to rise, a primary school teacher at a London school tells us what it's like on the frontline
PCS was right on the dangers of return to work, the Tories were wrong

After the government U-turn on being able to work from home, the PCS Union offers another example of the power of popular pressure, argues Floyd Codlin
Johnson’s disastrous policies will bring return to hundreds of daily deaths - CounterBlast

A rushed ‘return to normal’ is driving up the infection rates and, increasingly, the death rate, writes Alex Snowdon
‘And seem a saint, when most I play the devil’: Johnson’s dangerously misleading Covid broadcast

The government is still committed to putting profit before lives. We need to organise to force adequate safety measures argues Katherine Connelly
An organised left is crucial as we move towards a second wave - CounterBlast

The government’s measures to deal with a second wave remain inadequate; it’s crucial the left pushes for serious action that puts safety first, argues Lucy Nichols
Over 1,000 schools now have Covid cases, and it’s about to get worse

Parents and teachers warned of the dangers of full-scale school reopening but were ignored by the government. We must continue to fight for safety first, argues Corinne Pearson
10 points against the unsafe return to campuses

Dragan Plavšić considers the growing opposition to universities re-opening as infection rates rise
The market crashes: from exam crisis to political crisis

University staff are pushing back against the callous actions of universities and the government putting staff and students at risk
It's Tory failures not young people that have caused the covid spike

The government is trying to scapegoat young people, but it's their drive back to work and schools that is behind the rise in infections, argues Caitlin Southern
The market crashes: Branch Solidarity Network Bulletin September 2020

Branch Solidarity Network's September bulletin on the return to universities and why face-to-face teaching isn't safe
10 things wrong with the government’s return to school 'plan'

Parents want their children back in school, but government planning doesn't guarantee it will be safe, argues Corinne Pearson
Is revolution possible in the twenty-first century? – explainer

In the ninth part of our explainer series, Katherine Connelly looks at the continuing possibility of revolution for transforming society today
We must fight collectively for health and safety – interview with Shelly Asquith

As lockdown measures continue to ease, we interviewed the TUC’s Shelly Asquith on the need to to protect workers’ health and safety and to confront bosses who shirk their responsibilities.
Scrapping Public Health England is passing the buck - it's also deadly dangerous

Scrapping PHE for a new system that will be led by Baroness Harding has shown the Tories to be craven and corrupt, argues Caitlin Southern
Johnson is bullying schools back into unsafe reopening - CounterBlast

The moral duty of the government should be to save lives not risk them, argues Sean Ledwith
Stop blaming individuals for Coronavirus spikes

The drive to get people back to work is responsible for a rise in infections, not individual behaviour, argues Kevin Potter
Health Workers protest for fair pay

As the Tories refuse a pay rise for NHS staff, health workers around the country take to the streets to demand fair treatment.
NHS workers are taking the fight to the government

NHS Staff Voices launches its first newletter demanding pay justice for all NHS staff across all disciplines and carers, writes Alia Butt
The pandemic profit bonanza

Big pharma profits from disaster, as capitalism shows its inability to act in the public interest, argues John Clarke
Obesity: a class issue

The Tories are scapegoating ordinary people for obesity to deflect the blame from a system which fails to protect people’s health, argues Caitlin Southern
Hoping for a vaccine is not a policy - CounterBlast

Johnson’s government is gambling that reports of a vaccine will distract us from their disastrous handling of the pandemic, argues Sean Ledwith
Black Lives Matter in a time of pandemic

Nearly two months on from George Floyd’s brutal killing, the struggle against racist police violence is contending with a catastrophic resurgence of Covid-19, writes Susan Ram
'It will be over by Christmas' is a dangerous delusion - CounterBlast

The prime minister has recklessly heralded a renewed push back to the workplace for millions of people, writes Alex Snowdon
As likelihood of a second wave grows, the NHS is being set up to fail again

Despite scientists warning of the danger of a second wave, the government continues to leave the NHS unequipped and underfunded, writes Alia Butt
Authoritarian neoliberalism shows its ugly police face in Serbia

Police brutality shows shallow support for Serbia’s government, reports Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
The global picture: Covid cases and deaths continue to rise sharply

World leaders like Trump and Johnson trying to get back to business as usual while the virus continues to spread are deliberately sacrificing public health, writes John Clarke
Protest for Yemen: The UK has blood on their hands

The opposition to Britain’s role in facilitating the destruction of Yemen spilled onto the streets of London for a second week, reports Maddalena Dunscombe
Tory scapegoating should be resisted

Boris Johnson’s attempt to shift the blame for the impact of Covid-19 in care homes on to workers is a gross denial of responsibility, argues Victor Davis
Calling all NHS staff: it's time to get organised

The future of the NHS is in danger and it can only be defended through collective action, argues Lucy Nichols
Women, coronavirus and austerity

The coronavirus crisis is disproportionately impacting women who have already been hardest-hit by ten years of Tory austerity, argues Karen Buckley
It’s official: there’s no science behind lifting the lockdown - CounterBlast

Focused on boosting profits for their mates, health is just not on the Tories’ agenda, argues Penny Hicks
Johnson colludes with Trump to strangle Venezuela

The decision to deny the return of Venezuela’s $1bn gold deposit is deliberately risking lives in a pandemic for the sake of regime change, argues Sean Ledwith
The NHS is 72: why we must fight to defend it

As the NHS turns 72, it is under threat from the free-market dogma that has been underfunding and privatising it, writes John Westmoreland
‘Super Saturday’ reopening is reckless and dangerous - CounterBlast

The government’s push to reopen pubs, restaurants and much else this weekend is irresponsible and premature, writes Alex Snowdon
‘Be sensible’ says Boris Johnson as he recklessly ends the lockdown - CounterBlast

While new Covid infections and deaths continue, it is disgraceful that the Tories are patronisingly telling us to be sensible, says Penny Hicks
Johnson is gambling with our lives. Why is Starmer backing the bet? - CounterBlast 24 June

Boris Johnson is lifting the lockdown when it is patently unsafe to do so, and the opposition's going along with it, writes Shabbir Lakha
Is this the end for Trump?

Donald Trump's approval ratings are low, but can that be converted into an election defeat? Kate O'Neil looks in more detail
From fighting pandemic to fighting police brutality

Jillian Primiano, a registered nurse, speaks to Spring Magazine about fighting COVID-19, racism and health, and the movement for police abolition
Welsh government's decision on wider school opening goes against its commitment to all

The announcement to wider reopen Welsh schools on 29th June indicates a failure to prioritise the safety of teachers and communities, argues Kevin Potter
Government defeat on schools shows organised resistance can win - CounterBlast 9 June

Teachers and parents have successfully pushed the government back, writes Shabbir Lakha
Cuts to care worker pay are disgraceful - Counterblast 7 June

The same care workers the Tories have been clapping are now having their pay cut in the middle of a pandemic, says Penny Hicks
40,000 deaths but Johnson pushes us back to work - CounterBlast 5 June

The awful milestone of 40,000 officially recorded deaths shows why the government is reckless in lifting the lockdown, writes Alex Snowdon
Not until it's safe: stay away on 1st June

Many primary schools will re-open for large numbers of children on Monday. This is too soon, argues NEU activist Tony Dowling
Train driver: our goal has to be to fight to protect every life

Unjum Mirza, train driver and ASLEF branch chair speaks at a People's Assembly event on how collective organising has protected workers on the London Underground and why the fight against the reckless lifting of the lockdown is so important
The Monster Enters: Covid-19, Avian Flu and the Plagues of Capitalism - book review

Mike Davis’ The Monster Entersupdates his earlier book on capitalism and pandemic disease to reflect on the current failure of the neoliberal state, finds Elaine Graham-Leigh
Do as I say, not as I do: Cummings must go

The revelations about Boris Johnson’s chief adviser breaking lockdown rules should be the end of his career, writes Sean Ledwith
This crisis has exposed the Tory class for what they're really like - CounterBlast 21 May

Is there a day that goes by that you don't just groan at something stupid the Tories have done again?
Lives before profit: learning from the struggle for health and safety in the 1970s

John Westmoreland conducted a series of interviews with workers on the front line struggling for health and safety in the 1970s
Tube drivers: In dubious battle

Tube driver and ASLEF branch chair Unjum Mirza describes the growing conflicts over worker and passenger safety on London Underground
Contagion revisited: how Hollywood got its pandemic prediction upside down

Chaotic leadership vs calm public: how reality was different from Contagion's plotlines, says Chris Nineham
Hackney organises against charges and discrimination in migrants' health care

Marion Macalpine reports from the recent Hackney Keep Our NHS Public meeting on migrant health and welfare during the lockdown
Liverpool defies Johnson's dangerous schools plan

Liverpool Council has taken a stand against the government's reckless plan to begin opening schools on 1st June, reports Don Davies
Model Letter to your local authority: don't open schools until it is safe

This model letter can be adapted and used to lobby the local authority in your area to put pressure on them not to open the schools until they are safe
Conspiracies and capitalism: why we shouldn’t end the lockdown

Responses to the Covid-19 crisis that jeopardise the working class have to be rejected, asserts Shabbir Lakha
Let our ‘heroes’ live - don’t end the lockdown

Thank our key workers by listening to what they are saying, says Alia Butt
Coronavirus statistics lay bare the dire racial inequalities of our society

We don't need another review of evidence, covid-19 has showed we need concrete action to tackle racial health inequality, argues Mona Kamal
Protect yourself: how to join a union

Unions have won us rights in our working place in the past, they can do so again, says Jane Clayton
New research shreds Johnson’s 'Covid-secure' workplaces

The evidence regarding indoor work spaces and Covid transmission is clear, and it's not what the government is saying, argues Alistair Cartwright
Doctor speaks out: this isn't freedom, it's a death sentence

Physical distancing restrictions are not simply a matter of preserving NHS capacity, they are about saving lives, says Red Elmahdi
It is not safe to reopen schools - Kevin Courtney on Sky News

The National Education Union's joint General Secretary Kevin Courtney spoke to Sky News on why the government's plan to reopen schools is reckless and irresponsible
Know your rights: if it’s not safe, don’t go back to work

If you're being made to go back to work and don't feel safe, know your rights and join a trade union, writes Tony Dowling
Johnson’s gamble will cost thousands more lives – weekly briefing

Alex Snowdon on Tory recklessness and the workers fighting back
To the slaughter: back to work in a pandemic

The reopening of workplaces with no regard for the safety of workers shows the deadly determination of capitalism to protect profits, argues John Clarke
Left on our own: a dispatch from the frontline

Counterfire interviewed a care worker from a home in Yorkshire about the Covid-19 issues that are affecting these workplaces across Britain
Coronavirus: a test for Europe

The pandemic is proving to be a test for European solidarity and is adding strain to an already fragile EU, argues Alan McGuire from Madrid
Workers across the US strike on May Day for their lives

Workers from Amazon and other retail companies walked out on May day to demand protective equipment and hazard pay, reports Alyssa Cassata
After failing to meet 100,000 tests target, Hancock must resign

After a campaign of deceit and blame dodging to cover up brutal incompetence and disregard for lives, Matt Hancock must walk or be pushed, argues Shabbir Lakha
The government keeps moving their own goalposts - CounterBlast 1 May

As the government fails its own tests and scrambles to ‘get the economy going again’, we must demand that people are put before profit, writes Cameron Panting
A care worker speaks out on coronavirus and state of care homes

Behind the rising death toll lies a care system hanging by a thread, says care worker Victor Davis
Cummings and Sage: 'following the science' was always herd immunity

It should be blatantly obvious that someone who effectively advocates the culling of a vulnerable section of the population should not be allowed anywhere near public health policy, argues Lucy Nichols
The crisis within the crisis: refugees and the pandemic

Already vulnerable refugees living in unsanitary and squalid conditions are now bracing for the worst from the global pandemic, writes Eleftheria Kousta
Workers take a minute's silence as defiance grows - CounterBlast 28 April

International Workers' Memorial Day actions are one more expression of growing workplace anger and popular solidarity with working people, writes Chris Nineham
A minute's silence that will speak volumes - CounterBlast 26 April

On International Workers' Memorial Day, we will remember the avoidable deaths of thousands caused by government incompetence, writes Chris Nineham
Disproportionate BAME coronavirus deaths highlight Britain's systemic racism

The impact of Covid-19 on BAME groups is magnifying the pre-existing structural inequalities in society, argues Alyssa Cassata
The Tories' complete disengagement from what is needed - CounterBlast 24 April

The Tories couldn't even keep their own website for testing running for more then a couple of hours, how are they going to deliver 100,000 tests a day by next week?
Covid-19 testing: too little, too late - CounterBlast 23 April

Matt Hancock's trumpeting of new testing and tracing plans follows massive political failure on this critical issue, writes Alex Snowdon
How long can the government distort facts - CounterBlast 22 April

While the government continues to distort facts, labour movement outside parliament has started to bear fruits inside, says David McAllister
Tories fail to meet already inadequate standards - CounterBlast 21 April

The Tories have brought back their election spin team to cover up their hideous failings in this crisis, reports Shabbir Lakha
Tory thieves are falling out over the corona crisis: Counterblast 20 April

Sean Ledwith considers the tensions unfolding at the head of Government.
The coronavirus crisis: Britain’s ugly moment of truth – weekly briefing

Lindsey German on Covid-19, the Tories and the real value of workers
The government's callousness is clear for all to see - CounterBlast 19 April

Boris Johnson's government has blood on its hands, says Tom Griffiths
Shock and awe: Orbán’s corona dictatorship in Hungary

The harsh authoritarianism of Orban’s hard-right regime is a warning to the world, writes Anita Zsurzsan in Hungary
Thick as thieves: coronavirus and the media

Timid, bland, uncritical - British news media have failed in holding the government to account over the coronavirus crisis, explains Des Freedman
PPE: Tories are still failing our frontline workers - CounterBlast 18 April

The government is failing to deliver PPE while trade unions consider strike action to save lives, writes Lucy Nichols
Capital’s dilemma: the conundrum of neoliberalism and Covid-19

Gramsci’s morbid symptoms reassert themselves in the age of coronavirus, writes Shashikant Tripathi
Profit over people still the mantra, as school meal vouchers don't reach families

Rightly lack of PPE and testing is making news, but amongst the other scandals is the school meals voucher programme, explains Helen Rutherford-Gregory
UK's national scandal: time for accountability and change

In this thorough and damning account of the government's catastrophic failures dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Dr Raisa Ahmed argues we cannot return to 'normal'
NHS workers without PPE dying isn't just a tragedy, it's indirect murder

Doctors and Hearses by Potent Whisper
When capitalism turns caring for the vulnerable into a burden

The resurgence of DNACPR should be challenged, the idea that one life is more worthy than another could lead to dangerous consequences, argues Elly Badcock
How to build your union at your workplace now: a practical guide

As employers exploit and neglect workers during the coronavirus crisis, Dave offers a practical guide to organising in your workplace now
Coronavirus is exposing the gaping class divide in Britain

Working class people are the worst affected by the health crisis and the government's response is geared toward protecting the rich, writes Richard Allday
Victoria Park is the People’s Park: reopen it now

Closing parks is a counterproductive act of petty authoritarianism, argue Alistair Cartwright and Chris Nineham
NHS staff being denied proper PPE and testing is criminal - video

The government is failing NHS frontline workers and costing lives, says Alia Butt
It’ll Be Over By Easter: How Trump Became the Covidiot-in-Chief

Tragically, the events leading up to the Coronavirus outbreak and the manner in which he has bungled the federal response confirms that the Trump Presidency is destined to go down as one of the most disastrous in US history, says Sean Ledwith
Do not resuscitate: how the Tories are targeting the weak and old

Elderly and disabled people being asked to refuse treatment shows the Tories are sticking with herd immunity and it's unacceptable, argues Lucy Nichols
Coronavirus crisis: is the tide turning against the Tories?

Number Ten’s Covid-19 media strategy appears to be unravelling, notes Alex Snowdon
Herd from the hub: a frontline dispatch

What happens when precarity and key working meet head-on in a pandemic, Andrew Emerson reports
Austerity has left the NHS unable to deal with this pandemic effectively - video

Mona Kamal speaks to Double Down News about the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic which has come at a time when the NHS is at its weakest
Lockdown crisis in India: a people's perspective of Covid-19

With no access to state support, healthcare or testing, India's working and poor people have been completely abandoned by the government during the lockdown
The Matt Hancock Show: government spin and outright lies - CounterBriefing 3 April

The Tories are lying to us. Penny Hicks responds to the government’s daily briefing
Tories find magic money tree after all - CounterBriefing 2 April

After demands from the public and eventually the press, the government are finally being forced to move on testing and PPE, reports Lucy Nichols
It’s not business as usual, Secretary - CounterBriefing 1 April

Thanking business at this time is grossly insensitive and irresponsible, argues Katherine Connelly
The virus makes you ill but it's the government that kills you

The Rhyming Guide to Covid-19
Gaza finds itself embroiled in another kind of seige

Gaza still needs our help, let us not give up on it in these testing times, argues Maddalena Dunscombe
Staff and workers still remain exposed - CounterBriefing 30 March

The attempt to look competent by providing regular updates the government is just trying to hide its inadequacies, says David McAllister
Crisis management Tory style - CounterBriefing 29 March

Another day and another suit delivering the same excuses as the fear and anxiety mounts for the rest of us, writes Chrissy Brand
Test, test, test: the politics of coronavirus in microcosm

A crisis is always an opportunity for the right; our side has to start setting the terms of its own agenda, writes Kevin Potter
Millions clapped for our NHS in a show of mass solidarity - video roundup

Millions of people around the country mobilised en masse in from their homes in a moving tribute to the NHS and brave healthcare workers
The politics of pandemics in fiction: page and screen

Counterfire authors explore what we can learn about our current crisis from crises in fiction
Supply chains: a neoliberal crisis

Alastair Cartwright explains how the current economic system is prone to failure and what needs to be done to change it
Clap for the NHS: fight for testing and protection

As testing continues not to be rolled out, NHS workers and those in their care are increasingly at risk, argues Alia Butt. Clap for them this Thursday
As the coronavirus death toll rises, so does the government’s ineptitude - CounterBriefing 24 March

Despite the confident front, Boris's lockdown address is full of holes and the measures taken are inadequate and behind time, argues Shabbir Lakha
Boris Johnson's lacklustre lockdown skips key measures - CounterBriefing 23 March

Boris Johnson's lockdown is weeks late, only after public pressure, and ignores the central questions around testing and necessary support for millions, argues David McAllister
Johnson squandered precious time to deal with Covid-19, NHS workers demand urgent action

Austerity has put the NHS in dire straits, and government inaction now is limiting the NHS further in its ability to tackle the outbreak, writes Mona Kamal
Criminal negligence while the virus lets rip - CounterBriefing 19 March

In the second CounterBriefing, Chris Nineham looks at the verbal gymnastics of the government to cover its own back after its policy has been declared utterly impractical
Endless conflicts are deepening Coronavirus crisis

In this critical hour, all sanctions and hostilities must cease argues Chris Nineham
Put people before profit to fight Coronavirus

The government's response to the Coronavirus puts big business first, but we need real solutions that benefit the public instead, argues Richard Allday
Protest shut the schools, now demand mass testing - CounterBriefing 18 March

In the first CounterBriefing, Katherine Connelly responds to the government's u-turn on school closures after pressure from below
The People vs The Government - People's Assembly statement

The People's Assembly Against Austerity's statement on the coronavirus crisis and the demands we're making
Coronavirus is exposing capitalism - video

Kevin Ovenden speaks to Double Down News on how the nature of capitalism is being shown for what it is in this crisis
Lessons from the Spanish flu of 1919: internationalism and people before profit

Internationalism and collective action of the working people is the way to resolve pandemics argues John Westmoreland
Covid-19: Shut the schools now

As coronavirus spreads, the long-term consequences of not closing schools are likely to be devastating
Stop the profiteering: requisition the private hospital beds

The government should use the power it has to requisition private hospital beds, instead of going ahead with plans to let the private sector profit once again, argues Mona Kamal.
US sanctions on Iran are fuelling the spread of coronavirus

Trump's sanctions on Iran are limiting the country's ability to deal with the coronavirus outbreak effectively and it's costing lives, writes Jonathan Maunders
Lewisham Hospital workers walk out and demand to be paid and protected

The coronavirus crisis exposes the rot at the heart of Tory policy on the NHS as workers on the frontline of combating the pandemic are the worst treated, reports Tom Griffiths
Coronavirus: keep calm and carry on is not a policy but an abdication of responsibility

Government response is a key factor in how the virus is affecting populations and we will all pay for the inertia of our own, argues Kevin Potter
Coronavirus: market failure

In his third note on the Covid-19 outbreak, Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis examines the role of the market in the apparent crisis on our shelves
Coronavirus: 8 demands we should make on the government

Any effective response to the virus outbreak will require radical solutions that put human lives before profits and markets, argues Alistair Cartwright
Class and the Coronavirus

We have to challenge the government’s response to Coronavirus which threatens to hit the poorest hardest and fails to address the structural problems around public health, argues Katherine Connelly
Trouble at the top – weekly briefing

Lindsey German on Cummings and goings, public health and the war on Afghanistan
Coronavirus: how effective are facemasks?

In his second note on the political economy of the imminent Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis looks at the antinomies of facemasks
Notes on the political economy of the imminent Covid-19 pandemic: Conspiracies

Dr Yannis Gourtsoyannis addresses the conspiracies surrounding China's response to the spread of Covid-19
Chinese are not a virus; racism is

Solidarity, not stigma or division, is the key to beating this coronavirus, argues Lawrence Wong
Patel's new immigration system: racist and anti-working class

The government's attacks on immigration and the public sector are an attack on us all, writes Alia Butt
Junior doctor: The NHS will not survive another 5 years of the Tories

Only a Corbyn government can save the NHS, it's now or never, says junior doctor Raisa Ahmed
Mental health: a very political crisis

A psychologist working in the community speaks out on the mental health crisis
Hospital workers strike for fair pay

Exploited workers out in high spirits for the first round of one of the longest strikes in NHS history, reports Ellen Graubart
Abortion and same-sex marriage legalised in Northern Ireland, despite DUP opposition

Laws banning abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland have been repealed after a failure to restore Stormont, reports Elly Badcock
Suicide rates at 20 year high: an indictment of Tory austerity

Rising suicide rates show the monumental human cost of Tory austerity and why we urgently need to get them out of power, argues Mona Kamal
Manual for Survival. A Chernobyl Guide to the Future - book review

An important new book rigorously examines the impact of nuclear accidents. The evidence underlines just how destructive nuclear is, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh
Peak inequality: Britain's ticking time bomb - review

Danny Dorling’s Peak Inequality provides powerful evidence of the damage that rising inequality has had across housing, education, health and demography, finds Sean Ledwith
Mass walkout as Irish nurses and midwives stage historic strike

35,000 nurses and midwives joined a 24-hour national strike on Wednesday with more action planned for next week, reports Eóin Ó Murchú
Ontario becomes a testing ground for hyper austerity

Creative organising and resistance are urgently needed as a rampant, austerity-bent Tory government carves its way through Ontario, reports John Clarke
Unclear and divisive: not the deal our NHS workers deserve

NHS workers have been pressured into accepting a deliberately misleading deal, explains a health worker and union representative
Best images from the #OurNHS70 demo - live updates

Tens of thousands march in London, joined by Jeremy Corbyn, from across the UK to defend the NHS on its 70^th birthday and demand it is #Free4AllForever
Healthcare for the many - book extract

In this extract from Mike Phipps' edited collection, For the Many... Preparing Labour for Power, Allyson Pollock takes a close look at healthcare in the Labour manifesto
Jeremy Hunt should have been sacked, not promoted

As part of her reshuffle, May has added Social Care to Jeremy Hunt's remit. The People's Assembly and Health Campaigns Together respond
NHS Emergency Demonstration - model resolution

The People's Assembly have drafted a model motion to submit to trade union branches, Trades Councils, CLPs and other campaign groups to support the NHS Emergency demonstration on Saturday 3 February
Reactions to Budget 2017: resisting Foodbank Britain

Despite heavy opposition and protests, Philip Hammond's budget continues with austerity. A short round up from Counterfire of some of the reactions.

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