Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO reports from the start of Kunming’s Belt and Road media forum, where 200 journalists from 71 countries celebrated a new openness and optimism, forged by China’s enormous contribution to global development
A boost for the back-room boy
SOLOMON HUGHES reports on how a mega-wealthy hedge fund manager is dishing out cash to a ‘cringe’ Labour Party mediocrity with contempt for the voters
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to guests as he hosts a reception to mark Burns Night, in 10 Downing Street, central London, January 22, 2025
Women opponents of the Trump regime fear his misogynist, racist and anti-immigrant views are taking hold in Britain, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER, as protests against his visit hit London’s streets
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
Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS
MISH RAHMAN introduces the platform of a new organisation within Your Party, which will campaign for the highest level of democracy, accountability and participation, having learned from the mistakes of Labour in the 2015-19 era
ANDREW MURRAY wonders what the great communist foe of Oswald Mosley would make of today’s far-right surge, warning that while the triumph of Farage and ‘Robinson’ is far from inevitable, placing any faith in Starmer in an anti-fascist front is a fool’s errand
ONE of the few innovations of Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership is allowing multimillionaires to bypass the Labour Party and directly choose who gets ahead in the party and who doesn’t.
The latest example of this appears in the Register of MPs’ Interests: Josh Simons, Labour MP for Makerfield, says hedge fund boss Martin Taylor has given him £47,000 “to support my work as a member of Parliament.”
That’s a lot of money which will help Simons build his profile and get more noticed in the party. Taylor, who is a multimillionaire, is just bypassing all those annoying Labour Party meetings and conferences and throwing a load of money to build up one of his favourite centrist MPs.
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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
SOLOMON HUGHES asks whether Labour ‘engaging with decision-makers’ with scandalous records of fleecing the public is really in our interests
