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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‘What would Maggie do?’ Painful scenes from the Tory conference
It was always going to be a bizarre spectacle to watch the party try and walk off crashing the economy mere days before, but resorting to literal idol worship of Thatcher cut-outs surely spells the end of days for Truss's Tories, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
A cardboard cutout of Thatcher stands on the platform of a Tory conference fringe meeting titled “What would Maggie do.”
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
THE Tory government decided to push the self-destruct button right in the middle of its own conference. Normally guaranteed to be the showcase that gets them good headlines, instead Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng engineered a financial crisis before the conference and crowned this with an embarrassing U-turn in the middle of their showcase event.
To get a sense why, I went to a Tory conference fringe meeting organised by the Thatcherite Centre for Policy Studies titled “What would Maggie do.” The short answer for how the Tories screwed themselves is that a life-size cardboard cut-out of Thatcher was put on the platform, as if this lifeless icon could join the debate.
The real-life Thatcher was a tactical fighter for their side, who by a mix of force and guile transferred money and power from working people to big business and the rich. Unable to repeat the trick, the Tories have settled for a cardboard imitation, which is rigid, thin and doesn’t work.
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