Apart from a bright spark of hope in the victory of the Gaza motion, this year’s conference lacked vision and purpose — we need to urgently reconnect Labour with its roots rather than weakly aping the flag-waving right, argues KIM JOHNSON MP
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Even the centre laments the state of the Commons
Westminster is crumbling, along with its legitimacy in the eyes of the populace. A new book from the 'technocratic centre' looks at why this is — but SOLOMON HUGHES argues, it's mainly because MPs would rather perform rituals than deliver progress
In the face of funding cuts, closures and a shift into women’s centres providing criminal justice-only services rather than a holistic approach, RUTH HUNT urges women to protect existing resources, volunteer and build new networks of support
The CPB's congress aims to build the united front against monopoly capitalism, utilising the YCL’s promising new generation of militants — but our party remains far from the strength history requires of it, despite recent progress, writes JOHNNIE HUNTER
From Palestine, to racism, to fiscal rules and migrant rights, DIANE ABBOTT surveys some of the main themes of Labour conference this week
We must remember how the CPGB led anti-fascist movement defeated Mosley’s BUF in September 1936 and apply the lessons of mass mobilisation and open, unapologetic confrontation to the rise of the far right today, writes DYLAN MURPHY
On the anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, DAVID ROSENBERG reflects on his encounters with those who were there that day in 1936 – and suggests two urgent tasks for the anti-fascists of today
BRITISH parliamentary democracy is in such a poor state that Dr Hannah White — a very mainstream figure, a former Commons clerk, one-time secretary to the committee on standards in public life, and current head of super-respectable think tank the Institute for Government — thinks Parliament burning to the ground is probably the best hope for reform.
White’s recent book, Held in Contempt: What’s Wrong with the House of Commons, published this year, looks at what’s wrong with the processes of government.
Her think tank takes what you might think of as a technocratic rather than a “political” approach — although of course technocracy is itself a kind of “sensible centrist” politics. It’s not the political approach I favour, but she and it are on the ball, even if I don’t always agree with the game they play.
More from this author
The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
