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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Jobs for the boys... in space
With Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng's appointment of Lord David Willetts as the chair of the as-yet-unlaunched 'UK Space Agency,' Tory cronyism is potentially going where no man has gone before, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
Kwasi Kwarteng said Lord David Willetts “will bring a wealth of expertise to the role” — Willetts’s expertise includes a very long Tory career, beginning as a researcher for Margaret Thatcher, with stints as a minister under John Major and Cameron
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
BORIS JOHNSON’S Tory government is struggling to find a mission for itself, beyond just hanging on to look after the rich and look after their friends. Without much of a vision of the future, all that seems to be left is a kind of crony capitalism — with the emphasis on crony.
In the latest jobs for the boys move, Tory Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng appointed former Tory Business Minister David Willetts as chair of the UK Space Agency Board at the end of April. Willetts will help run the UK Space Agency, which spends around £500m a year of public money encouraging the British space sector, alongside Paul Bate, who was made chief executive last year.
To add to the crony-ish feel of the UK Space Agency, Bate was David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s “health policy” adviser during the Tory-led coalition government and went on to be “director of NHS services” at Tory-favoured health privatiser Babylon Health before joining the Space Agency. Before working for Cameron, Bate was a health adviser to then-PM Tony Blair, so he is not quite as narrowly party-political as David Willetts.
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
