New Worker Banner

The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Lead story

China winning ‘People’s War’ on Covid-19

by New Worker correspondent

CHINESE President Xi Jinping went to the locked-down city of Wuhan this week pledging a continuous fight towards victory as prevention and control efforts have turned the tide in the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) that has now spread throughout the world

Read the full story here >> China winning ‘People’s War’ on Covid-19

Pay rises

by New Worker correspondent

READERS will rejoice that hard-working public servants who are forced to work in a crumbling 19th building beside a polluted river, have won a well-deserved, inflation-busting pay rise of 3.1 per cent or £2,500. These deserving workers are Members of Parliament, who did not have to take to the picket lines, received it from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). This figure compares with the present inflation rate of 1.8 per cent. Hopefully those struggling on £79,468 will find their £81,932 helpful.

Read the full story here >> Pay rises

Editorial

Getting to grips with the crisis

THE NEWS that the Health Minister has gone down with coronavirus is a sign that the virus has now reached out to the corridors of power in Westminster. By Tuesday the number of cases in the UK reached 382, a rise of 63 from the previous day, with a sixth person confirmed to have died after contracting the virus also known as COVID-19.

Whether this will inject a new sense of urgency into the Johnson government remains to be seen. Last week’s bumbling press conference in which Boris Johnson told us how to wash our hands followed by more confused ramblings on ITV’s This Morning show have not inspired confidence amongst the elderly and the infirm, who are most at risk from the COVID-19 virus.

The Government’s response to the crisis was unveiled in the Budget this week. But abolishing business rates for small firms in England, extending sick pay and increased NHS funding only goes part of the way to tackling the escalating threat of a devastating epidemic that could overwhelm the health service and seriously undermine the economy at the same time.

Read the full story here >> Getting to grips with the crisis