Danni Perry’s flag display at the Royal Opera House sparked 182 performers to sign a solidarity letter that cancelled the Tel Aviv Tosca production, while Leonardo DiCaprio invests in Tel Aviv hotels, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

AS LABOUR gears up for a plethora of by-elections it seems a good time to assess the state of working-class representation in Westminster. Sadly, an initial look does not make good reading.
In recent weeks selections forced by boundary changes have seen the loss of colleagues Mick Whitley and Beth Winter.
Parliament will be poorer without both Beth, who worked as a trade union official, housing officer for the charity Shelter and a community worker, and Mick, who worked in the merchant navy and at Vauxhall Motors, eventually becoming the union convener. Their losses are both a blow for the left and for authentic voices of working class in Parliament.



