The annual commemoration of anti-fascist volunteers who fought fascism in Spain now includes a key contribution from Italian comrades
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They come with prices and vices – Starmer and the Swiftie Spads
They’re the problem it’s them: SOLOMON HUGHES on the freeloading flunkies of the Labour Party hoovering up VIP tickets to musical and sporting events
Taylor Swift performing on stage during her Eras Tour at the Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, June 7, 2024
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ANSELM ELDERGILL asks whether artificial intelligence may decide legal cases in the future, in place of human judges, and how AI could reshape the legal landscape
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The NEU’s annual conference promises heated debate, with motions on international politics, curriculum reform and union amalgamation likely to provoke strong reactions and challenge the status quo, writes Education for Tomorrow editor ROBERT POOLE
LAST autumn Keir Starmer faced an embarrassing scandal, as the MPs’ register showed he and his ministers were grabbing loads of free Taylor Swift tickets. It looked like childish, grubby freeloading.
High-sounding claims of a “government of service” looked unconvincing as Starmer and his ministers took freebies for Swift concerts — typically £500-£1,000 VIP tickets with “hospitality” — and other sporting and musical events. Thanks to newly published “transparency” registers, I can reveal it wasn’t just the MPs: loads of the backroom “special advisers” who direct Labour government policies got the Swift freebie fever too.
A new book by Times journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund suggests Starmer wanted the prime minister’s job because of its prestige, but doesn’t have a strong political “mission,” leaving the political direction to his advisers.
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