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

A THINK TANK called Labour Together identified a key demographic of voters, termed the “Stevenage Woman,” that Labour needs to win. According to its report, titled Red Shift, this Stevenage Woman is against nationalisation: only 7 per cent of this group is in favour of public ownership.
These claims were all over the media, often reported as if they were definitely true. But scratch the surface and the claim is made on dubious polling by an organisation that got £1.5 million from investment multimillionaires to influence Labour policy.
According to Labour Together, “Stevenage Woman is a mum, in her early forties. She’s got two kids, she works hard, she plays by the rules and she pays the bills.”

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