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

THE last couple of years can seem a bit of a blur, a depressing sequence of semi-lockdowns and partial reopenings.
The virus casting its shadow over all our plans, as in the background the Conservative government assiduously strips away rights — to protest, to vote, to freedom of speech, to seek refuge from persecution, even to receive warning if it decides to remove our citizenship.
This monotony should by now have exploded any notion that Covid is a temporary emergency after which we can go back to “normal.”

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

Morning Star editor BEN CHACKO reports on TUC Congress discussions on how to confront the far right and rebuild the left’s appeal to workers