We face austerity from the government, privatisation via academies, a toxic influence on our students online, the attacks of the populist right in Trump and Farage — but we are growing, in number, in militancy — and we have shown we cannot be beaten, says NEU general secretary DANIEL KEBEDE
Labour’s brand tarnished for millions of voters
Where Starmer endorses Israel’s actions today he gives political cover to Netanayu’s overall aims, argues NICK WRIGHT

KEIR STARMER is emerging as a threat to Labour prospects. Whether the Labour leader believes what he says or simply doesn’t regard it as a legitimate subject for reflection is no longer a matter open to debate.
There is a growing conviction that Starmer speaks with conviction only to endorse Britain’s imperial foreign policy, express unshakeable loyalty to every manoeuvre by Nato, unchanging fealty to the United States and any act of the Israeli state.
For a British electorate largely convinced that politicians are liars he is mendacity personified. So permanent is the shadow of darkness cast by his mendacity that it has now begun to eclipse that even of Boris Johnson.
More from this author

The left must confront both far-right bigotry and the undeniable problems the exploitation of migrant workers by the ruling class creates — but there are few lessons from the global left on how to strike this balance, laments NICK WRIGHT

Xenophobic hysteria over the statistically insignificant number of small-boat crossings deliberately conceals how capitalism manipulates population flows for profit — if we can explain that, we’ll beat the right, argues NICK WRIGHT

NICK WRIGHT delicately unpicks the eloquent writings on art of an intellectual pessimist who wears his Marxism lightly

NICK WRIGHT examines how Farage’s party has attracted five distinct voter tribes with incompatible views on economics, immigration and state intervention — presenting both a challenge and opportunity for left organising