To boost the economy, Labour cannot afford to duck these four expensive challenges

By Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City, University of London

Labour has come to power with a mandate for change and big ambitions to grow the economy and rebuild public services. It wants to move swiftly to implement its early pledges while keeping within its self-imposed spending limits.

But in the longer term, to achieve its broader goals Labour is going to have to address four key issues that have bedevilled successive governments: social care, council housing, university funding, and poverty.

They are difficult because solutions will require a long-term commitment of resources, and there will be political costs as well as benefits…

Read complete article

~	Inside the wardrobe: Women’s clothing increasingly policed in Tajikistan

~	Justice for the emblematic Ayotzinapa crime in Mexico in a race against time

~	Smokers have a higher level of harmful bacteria in the mouth – new study

~	Children in west Africa are often sent to live with other families to help them get ahead – but fostering may be doing the opposite

~	Palestinians want to choose their own leaders – a year of war has distanced them further from this democratic goal

~	The ongoing destruction of Cairo's historic cemeteries: A 1000-year legacy under threat

~	Latin America: Uncovering the hidden human workforce behind AI

~	UN rights council examines nuclear legacy consequences in the Marshall Islands

~	Dockworkers pause strike after Biden administration’s appeal to patriotism hits the mark

~	A year of escalating conflict in the Middle East has ushered in a new era of regional displacement