Agencies that help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness are struggling to house them because of the shortfall of social housing and intense competition for affordable rentals.

As the sense of public squalor intensifies, promises of private splendour gain ever more purchase among a public feeling brutalised by government retreat from its core responsibilities.

The party must return to its progressive roots. A new economy is needed with new rules and new roles As the shock of Donald Trump’s victory sinks in, pundits and politicians are mulling what it means for the future of the US and global politics. Understanding why such a divisive, unqualified figure won again is crucial for the Democrats. Did they go too far left and lose the moderate Americans who make up a majority? Or did centrist neoliberalism – pursued by Democratic presidents since Bill Clinton – fail to deliver, thus creating a demand for change? To me, the answer is clear: 40 years of neoliberalism have left the US with unprecedented inequality, stagnation in the middle of the income spectrum (and worse for those below), and declining average life expectancy (highlighted by mounting “deaths of despair”). The American Dream is being killed, and although President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris distanced themselves from neoliberalism with their embrace of industrial policies, as representatives of the mainstream establishment, they remained associated with its legacy. Continue reading...