Durham Miners’ Association chair STEPHEN GUY speaks to Ben Chacko about the Reform threat, what’s needed from Labour and why the Big Meeting will never lose its politics
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Enter ‘Sir Kid Starver’
After decimating its left, Labour has now turned its sights on teachers and children, in a wave of policy announcements that have left the education community incredulous, writes teacher ROBERT POOLE
![Durham Miners' Gala 2026 [Pic: Neil Terry]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/SSS_20260711_DURHAM_MINERS_GALA_0-21.jpg.webp?itok=NUVjowji)
Andy Burnham’s message of hope will defeat Reform if Labour delivers the New Deal for Working People in full, says JOANNE THOMAS
General Federation of Trade Unions president and bakers’ union general secretary, SARAH WOOLLEY, guides us through the GFTU’s Summer School happening this week at Quorn Grange Hotel
The government’s latest asylum proposals abandon labour movement values and fuel division by aping Reform UK, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Can Andy Burnham’s programme deliver a productive economy – or merely a softer version of capitalism, asks VINCE MILLS
IAN LAVERY MP warns that decades of neoliberal policies have left former industrial communities behind — but a renewed Labour commitment to working people could change the political landscape
“THERE are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen,” wrote Lenin. Never has this been so true as this week in Labour’s pronouncements on education.
First, there was the announcement that the pledge of free school meals for all was going to be scrapped; next up was the story about how it would send in teams of “super-teachers” into deprived areas; and finally — in the most extreme case of not reading the room ever — the insistence that it would increase the number of Ofsted inspections to yearly.
At this point, I fear that Keir Starmer is reading this author’s Morning Star contributions and then doing the exact opposite of whatever I say.
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We cannot refuse to abolish the unjustifiable two-child benefit cap that pushes children into poverty while finding billions of pounds for defence spending — the membership and the public expect better from Labour, writes JON TRICKETT MP
