Apart from a bright spark of hope in the victory of the Gaza motion, this year’s conference lacked vision and purpose — we need to urgently reconnect Labour with its roots rather than weakly aping the flag-waving right, argues KIM JOHNSON MP

THE government of Israel and its supporters make increasingly wild allegations of anti-semitism against anyone who thinks Israeli troops killing thousands of civilians is bad. By recklessly hitting the “anti-semitism” button, supporters of Israel’s war on Gazan civilians risk making the charge meaningless.
I think the stupidity of this pro-war propaganda actually puts an extra duty on anti-war protesters to make efforts to stop any drift into anti-semitic attitudes at the fringes of our movements.
Enthusiasts for the war on Gaza aren’t worried about “crying wolf” because they aren’t so interested in suppressing prejudice in the West — they just want to increase the bombing in the Middle East. But the struggle against racist prejudice of all kinds is vital to the left and anti-war movements, it’s something we have to keep up.

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES