Browsing Category
Cost of Living
140 posts
Inflation, price-gouging, and a useless Executive: The cost-of-living crisis in the North
By Reilly Woods Day after day, we find ourselves scrolling smack into a wall of devastating new reports,…
Inflation, price-gouging, and a useless Executive: The cost-of-living crisis in the North
By Reilly Woods Day after day, we find ourselves scrolling smack into a wall of devastating new reports,…
Imperialist war on Iran fuels a new cost-of-living crisis
By Finghín Kelly The US and Israel’s war on Iran is unleashing bloodshed, suffering, and chaos all over…
PIP cuts: fund welfare not warfare!
By Kevin Henry The new series of welfare cuts implemented by the Starmer administration in Westminster is a…
‘Melted Parents’ march against high childcare costs
On Saturday 20 April, 1500 parents marched through Belfast demanding urgent action on childcare. The march was organised by Melted Parents NI, which began as an online platform sharing parents' experiences of the childcare crisis. With Stormont’s lack of action and bills higher than ever before, they decided it was time to take to the streets.
Stormont budget: declaration of war on public services & working class people
Stormont’s return was always going to be on an incredibly weak basis. The fundamental issues at the heart of its suspension in 2022 have still not been resolved. Despite all the grand promises from the executive to solve the multiple crises in our society, including the crisis in healthcare, our public services, and the gender violence epidemic to name a few, the new woefully inadequate spending budget agreed by the main parties will mean only further misery for working-class people in the North.
Northern Irish capitalism: Misery and exploitation for workers and young people
Working class and young people have seen their wages eroded by an increasing cost-of-living, leading to a real downturn in standards of living. And the economy in the North seems to only be getting worse. Business insolvencies (effectively bankruptcies) in the last quarter of 2023 were 62% higher than in the previous year and were at the highest rate since the data series began in 1960.
Is the NHS Protected?
The 2023/24 budget does not make for cheerful reading. Further cuts on top of cuts will be detrimental to our public services and working-class people who rely upon them. If you are looking for a silver lining, you may be tempted to say “Well, at least we have our health!” And indeed, it is true - on the surface level alone - that the Department of Health is one of two departments to receive a slight increase in funding, at 0.5%. However, such numbers are incredibly misleading.
Our Education System is in Crisis
The Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris shamelessly unveiled the Northern Ireland budget for 2023-24 indicating that overall spending would be slashed by 3.3%, representing a cut of approximately £800 million.
Youth Centre Cuts Reversed After Protests
Time and time again, capitalism ensures that young people’s futures are eroded and that working-class people are made to pay the price for the actions of politicians and bosses. The actions of those workers and young people show us that such attacks can be challenged.