Head of education, campaigns and organising for the General Federation of Trade Unions HENRY FOWLER explains why it is launching a fund to support trades councils and give them access to a new range of courses and resources
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Dodgy Labour doners
An adviser to a shadow minister was handed a tasty freebie in the form of tickets to the British Kebab Awards from notorious ‘gig economy’ employer Just Eat. So much for caring about workers’ rights, says SOLOMON HUGHES
While working people face austerity, arms companies enjoy massive government contracts, writes ARTHUR WEST, exposing how politicians exaggerate the Russian threat to justify spending on a sector that has the lowest employment multiplier
ANYA COOK reports from the Newcastle citizens’ assembly, where over 240 people gathered to create a people’s manifesto ahead of next year’s local elections – part of former mayor Jamie Driscoll’s Majority movement
While claiming to target fraud, Labour’s snooping Bill strips benefit recipients of privacy rights and presumption of innocence, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE, warning that algorithms with up to 25 per cent error rates could wrongfully investigate and harass millions of vulnerable people
Real security comes from having a secure base at home — Keir Starmer’s reckless and renegade decision to get Britain deeper into the proxy war against Russia is as dangerous as it is wasteful, writes SALLY SPIERS
The plan is to stigmatise and destabilise South Africa in preparation for breaking it up while creating a confused and highly racialised atmosphere around immigration in the US to aid in denying rights to non-white refugees, explains EMILE SCHEPERS
ALAN SIMPSON warns that Starmer’s triangulation strategy will fail just as New Labour’s did, with each rightward move by Labour pushing Tories further right
THE senior adviser to Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, accepted a freebie night out from “gig economy” food delivery firm Just Eat — shortly before the firm announced it was sacking 1,700 couriers and ditching sick pay and holiday pay for their staff.
This is just one of the many small but offensive details in the register of payoffs and freebies to parliamentary staff.
Esther Webber, a journalist at the Politico website, went through the parliamentary registers this month, finding “Keir Starmer and his staff accepted tickets to attend concerts, football matches and horse-racing gifted by Big Tech companies and racecourse operators as lobbyists target potential players in the next UK government.”
More from this author
Labour’s pop-loving front bench have snaffled up even more music tickets worth thousands apiece, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
SOLOMON HUGHES highlights a 1995 Sunday Times story about the disappearance of ‘defecting Iraqi nuclear scientist.’ Even though the story was debunked, it was widely repeated across the mainstream press, creating the false – and deadly – narrative of Iraqi WMD that eventually led to war
Despite Labour’s promises to bring things ‘in-house,’ the Justice Secretary has awarded notorious outsourcing outfit Mitie a £329 million contract to run a new prison — despite its track record of abuse and neglect in its migrant facilities, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
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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
By hiring a former TikTok PR man as its new head of comms, Labour shows that corporate wheeling and dealing rather than principled politics will be the party’s priority, says SOLOMON HUGHES
