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
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Lockheed's Bosnian beano
Why did a leading arms firm foot the bill for seven MPs to go on a fact finding mission to the Balkans, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
A woman leans on a gravestone in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia, yesterday
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
ARMS FIRMS want to buy their way into political influence and the All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are one of the many channels they use.
APPGs are very lightly regulated informal groups of MPs that often rely on outside funding for organising trips and events. MPs on the Committee on Standards are investigating whether APPGs are really a channel for lobbying Parliament.
It’s not hard to find examples: according to the latest Register of MPs’ Interests, at the end of September Tory MPs Sarah Atherton, Bob Blackman, Flick Drummond, James Gray, Sheryll Murray, James Sunderland and Labour MP Sarah Champion had a three-day trip with the Armed Forces APPG “to meet current politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina and to learn about the Bosnian War.”
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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
