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

THIS FEBRUARY Labour Lord Peter Goldsmith took a “leave of absence” from the House of Lords, because he did not want to give the details of his foreign clients.
Goldsmith, who was a key minister in Tony Blair’s government, is a lawyer running a firm with many Russian clients. Goldsmith “personally provided services” to the Russian government in 2021, according to the Register of Lords’ Interests.
Last May Goldsmith also represented Sberbank, the Russian state-owned bank. Sberbank is seen as so close to Putin’s government that it was sanctioned in Britain, the US and EU after Putin launched his bloody war on Ukraine.

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