The Guardian
8 hours ago
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The Guardian view on the future of social clubs: working-class assets that deserve to be nurtured | Editorial
Member-run institutions offer a communal infrastructure to build on. Using national lottery money to boost their fortunes is money well spentRegulars at the Stubshaw Cross Community and Sports Club may be looking forward to a return to business as usual. Since late May, the venue has doubled as Andy Burnham’s centre of operations, as he seeks to plot a path to Downing Street by winning Thursday’s byelection in the Makerfield constituency. But the back bar will soon be free of visiting ministers and attendant media, and the bingo, pizza nights and quizzes will again proceed undisturbed.At their peak in the 1970s, working-class institutions such as these were an integral part of the fabric of social life in Britain. Since then, more than half have disappeared. Of the 1,800 or so that remain, a recent survey found that many were under severe financial strain. Deindustrialisation and the digital revolution have created a more atomised culture and weakened habits of association. At the same time, scholars such as the American academic Robert Putnam have diagnosed a crisis of belonging – or of not belonging – in western societies. Continue reading...
The Guardian
8 hours ago
The Guardian view on defending Europe in a new era: collaboration is the key | Editorial
The recent abandonment of plans for a Franco-German fighter jet sent a disastrous signal. Strategic autonomy will be jointly achieved or not at allIt has become a truism to assert that Europe needs to fast-track its own strategic independence in a volatile world. A recent paper from the European Council on Foreign Relations describes the continent’s leaders as grappling with “a ‘Schrödinger’s NATO’ moment, in which America remains formally inside the alliance while behaving as though it were not, just as the Russian threat looms larger”. Donald Trump’s United States has become at best an unreliable and at times reluctant ally, as Vladimir Putin’s revanchist ambitions have exposed the need to strengthen Europe’s defences.But if the goal of greater autonomy is to be achieved, far better coordination of resources and cooperation between national defence industries will be required. Neither has been much in evidence this month, with France and Germany abandoning a joint £100bn project to build a new fighter jet as part of an updated Future Combat Air System. Originally launched by Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel in 2017, plans for the jet were pulled as a result of irresolvable disagreements between Dassault, the French aviation company involved, and Airbus, the European aerospace company whose defence unit is based in Germany.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The Guardian
1 day ago
The Guardian view on the global baby bust: people are having fewer children – even where they say they want more | Editorial
Indian fertility has fallen below the rate required for population stability, in further evidence of the unexpectedly rapid decline in births internationallyThe global fall in fertility rates has arrived faster and spread further than anticipated. Two-thirds of people now live in countries that have slipped below the replacement rate – 2.1 births per woman – required for a stable population. Last month, India revealed that its fertility rate had fallen to just 1.9. The world’s two most populous nations, which pursued cruel and coercive policies to cut births, both face shrinking populations. China’s fertility rate is now around 1, and births last year fell below 8 million – just over half the number projected when the “one child” policy was axed 10 years ago, and comparable to the total in 1738, when its population was 150 million.It’s further proof that what was seen as a phenomenon of rich nations has spread far beyond them. East Asia led the way. But Albania and Chile have far lower rates than the US or England and Wales (themselves experiencing record lows of 1.6 and 1.4).Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The Guardian
1 day ago
It’s a Trumpian World Cup for racism and cynicism – why don’t those who condemned Qatar 2022 say so? | Jeremy Corbyn
We must highlight the awful stance of the White House towards so many competing nations, but also the hypocrisy of leaders who acquiesceOmar Artan was to be the first Somali to referee at the World Cup finals. A Fifa-certified referee since 2018, Artan officiated at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023 and was named the 2025 Confederation of African Football men’s referee of the year. Last weekend, as we know, Artan was denied entry to the United States at Miami international airport.The US has not officially given a reason for Artan’s ban, but we know that Somalia is one of the countries on Donald Trump’s travel ban list. After the news reverberated around the world, an administration source, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the move came about because Artan had possible links to possible terrorists. But that claim, in the face of a furore, merits widespread scepticism. There is a word for this: racism.Jeremy Corbyn is the MP for Islington North and parliamentary leader of Your Party. He was leader of the Labour party from 2015 to 2020Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The Guardian
4 days ago
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The Guardian
11 months ago
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