Witnessing a war of words at a meeting on tackling militarism at The World Transformed, BEN COWLES spoke to a union rep who is organising against war from inside the arms industry itself, to hear about worker-led solutions to ending weapons production

IN THE festival marquee, Caolan Robertson’s smile is as white as his pristine sweatshirt.
He looks more like the member of a boy band that never quite made it than what he purports to be: the man who rebranded “Tommy Robinson” (Stephen Lennon), taking him from washed-up EDL founder to millionaire poster boy for the far right star: “I dressed him for two years — I made videos for him, with high production values, that I knew would appeal to a new audience.”
Robertson has supposedly had a major change of heart. Here on the Byline Festival stage, an event which took place at the end of last month, he says he plans to make up for his wrongdoing, and disappear from public life — but off stage later, he networks ruthlessly, posting selfies with assorted media folk and, as I will discover, planning his next career move.

LYNNE WALSH reports from the Morning Star’s Race, Sex and Class Liberation conference last weekend, which discussed the dangers of incipient fascism and the spiralling drive to war

The bard mourns the loss of comrades and troubadours, and looks for consolation with Black Country Jess
