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
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Dodgy Labour doners
An adviser to a shadow minister was handed a tasty freebie in the form of tickets to the British Kebab Awards from notorious ‘gig economy’ employer Just Eat. So much for caring about workers’ rights, says SOLOMON HUGHES
[Joshua Lawrence / Creative Commons] 
In the face of funding cuts, closures and a shift into women’s centres providing criminal justice-only services rather than a holistic approach, RUTH HUNT urges women to protect existing resources, volunteer and build new networks of support
The CPB's congress aims to build the united front against monopoly capitalism, utilising the YCL’s promising new generation of militants — but our party remains far from the strength history requires of it, despite recent progress, writes JOHNNIE HUNTER
From Palestine, to racism, to fiscal rules and migrant rights, DIANE ABBOTT surveys some of the main themes of Labour conference this week
We must remember how the CPGB led anti-fascist movement defeated Mosley’s BUF in September 1936 and apply the lessons of mass mobilisation and open, unapologetic confrontation to the rise of the far right today, writes DYLAN MURPHY
On the anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, DAVID ROSENBERG reflects on his encounters with those who were there that day in 1936 – and suggests two urgent tasks for the anti-fascists of today
THE senior adviser to Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, accepted a freebie night out from “gig economy” food delivery firm Just Eat — shortly before the firm announced it was sacking 1,700 couriers and ditching sick pay and holiday pay for their staff.
This is just one of the many small but offensive details in the register of payoffs and freebies to parliamentary staff.
Esther Webber, a journalist at the Politico website, went through the parliamentary registers this month, finding “Keir Starmer and his staff accepted tickets to attend concerts, football matches and horse-racing gifted by Big Tech companies and racecourse operators as lobbyists target potential players in the next UK government.”
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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
