As Colombia approaches presidential elections next year, the US decision to decertify the country in the war on drugs plays into the hands of its allies on the political right, writes NICK MacWILLIAM

THE LABOUR PARTY this week has demanded an Emergency Budget in response to the cost-of-living crisis and confirmed the party’s re-commitment to the abolition of non-dom tax status.
Both announcements come as rocketing inflation outstrips pay and social security rises and in the aftermath of news that, as a non-dom, the Chancellor’s wife has not previously paid UK tax on earnings outside the UK.
The Emergency Budget demand, whilst a positive headline, would have hit home better and motivated voters ahead of the local elections, with some concrete commitments to lift incomes through increased social security payments, a higher national minimum wage and a large public-sector pay increase.

The British economy is failing to deliver for ordinary people. With the upcoming Spending Review, Labour has the opportunity to chart a different course – but will it do so, asks JON TRICKETT MP


