Facing economic turmoil, Jim Callaghan’s government rejected Tony Benn’s alternative economic strategy in favour of cuts that paved the way for Thatcherism — and the cuts-loving Labour of the present era, writes KEITH FLETT
The silent drift into war
With Ukraine firing British-made missiles into Russian territory, the risk of being dragged into world war III is greater than ever – so why is there scarcely a murmur from our political class, asks ANDREW MURRAY

IF WORLD WAR THREE does break out over Ukraine, it will surely come as a surprise to most of the House of Commons.
An eminent historian has blamed the onset of the first world war on “sleepwalkers” in the chancelleries of the great powers, dozing as Europe drifted into carnage.
But even sleepwalking does not adequately describe today’s parliamentarians in the face of the ever-escalating conflict in eastern Europe, since it at least implies some form of movement, however somnambulant.
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