‘A good way to show solidarity with Greece is to tackle austerity in your own country.’ Syriza member speaking on a panel at a Global Justice Now event in London, earlier this year. By Steve Rushton Greeks are at the polls today, deciding whether to vote #Oxi (No) against the Troika that […]
As the newly elected Syriza Government make overtures to the so-called Troika of the ECB, EC and IMF on debt restructuring, one thing is increasingly clear. Elites in the UK and across Europe appear deeply uncomfortable the neoliberal logic of the “free market” is being questioned by a democratically elected Government, freely expressing the will […]
By Fanny Malinen Next summer, the class of 2015 will proudly wear their graduation gowns. As the first generation to finish a 3-year university course since the trebling of tuition fees in England and Wales, they will enter their brave new futures with an average of over £40,000 of debt. That is nearly 80% more […]
On July 20th, The Guardian reported that Business Secretary Vince Cable had called off the sale of student loans to the private sector. The £12bn worth of loans, made between 1998 and 2011, was supposed to form part of the government’s privatisation programme and pave the way for further sales. How long the sell-off remains […]
Education can engender critical thinking, innovation and creativity, providing a platform on which people can shape alternatives for society. Arguably, the need to amplify blue sky thinking has never been stronger: the globalised society faces multiple systemic crises, such as climate, inequality and debt; not to mention the systemic failures with democracy, usurped by corporate […]
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes were introduced to the UK under the John Major Government in the 1990s, with the first PFI project [Skye Bridge] field tested in Scotland. PFI was significantly expanded under Tony Blair’s New Labour Government who wanted a convenient way of funding public infrastructure “off balance sheet.” Rather than Central Government directly […]
From PFI contracts that make hospitals three times as expensive as public funding would, to the bubble in the housing sector, from graduates’ average debt burdens of £44,000, to unpayable energy bills …debt affects all aspects of our lives. Be it private, national or local government, debt is one of the neoliberal system’s most powerful […]