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
Latest editorial
Wreathgate recalled in light of the war on Gaza
SOLOMON HUGHES looks back at 2018 and the Corbyn wreath-laying controversy — a complete sham that also smeared the West’s now-preferred negotiating partner, the PLO
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
BIG events in Britain are often accompanied by ritual denunciations of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: when the Times editorial accused Keir Starmer of “vacillation” and “panic” over Labour’s Gaza policy, they had to preface the criticism with a swipe at Corbyn, under whom they claim Labour had “plumbed” into “squalid moral depths.”
This is a pretty common phenomenon: when the current, centrist-dominated political scene comes up with more austerity, hunger and war, the centrist pundits have to spit out a ceremonial denunciation of Corbyn before they start to worry about whether the system is really working.
Haunted by the fact that an alternative, socialist response to these crises was recently popular, they feel they must exorcise the ghost of Corbynism before admitting the system isn’t working.
But when it comes to Gaza, allied hopes for a solution rest heavily on the very people they denounced Corbyn for hanging out with.
More from this author
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
