FOLLOWING the launch of the Morning Star’s new website at the end of last year, we’ll be launching a new-look print edition in a week’s time.

These projects are part of our bid to boost our paper’s appeal and reach at this key political time, which has seen big steps forward for the left since our own columnist of 10 years Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party.

The Morning Star has increased its circulation since then, but not by enough either to provide the labour movement with the voice it needs or to counter our precarious financial situation.

While core income streams have remained relatively steady, the paper has suffered a dramatic fall in legacy income over the past year and this combines with a significant rise in the price of paper on world commodities markets and thus the cost of printing, effective from this month.

The paper’s management committee has therefore reluctantly decided that the price of the larger weekend edition will rise to £1.50 from next Saturday. There are currently no plans to change the £1 price of the paper Monday-Friday.

This is our first price rise since 2014, but we are aware that it is a big demand of readers to pay more for the paper given years of real-terms pay cuts and a bleak economic outlook.

Unfortunately, the paper’s finances give us little choice but to go ahead and we hope readers will share our belief that keeping the only socialist daily paper in Britain thriving is worth the money.