All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Housing – and specifically the dearth of reasonably priced housing – is an issue that crops up again and again in the political conversation. Young people are being priced out of the housing market; even where new housing is being built, very little of it could be classed as ‘affordable’. So today’s news that the
Admirers of violence and lies must go carefully. As true cowards they must leave themselves an escape hatch in case they are forced to retreat. They never quite commit to the suppression of rights, the rigged elections, the secret policemen and the torture chambers. Instead they tell us we are not hearing the full story,
Back in the early 1990s, a few years after the Berlin Wall came down, I went back to the house in Dresden where my father was born. The house was on the outskirts so my father and grandmother survived the bombing – they got the last train out of Dresden before the Red Army arrived.
Like football, politics is a game of space and movement. Whoever controls the space has room to move. As matters stand, the Conservative party has ceded control to Labour. The Tories, consumed by Brexit, have opened the door to the very thing they fear most: a ‘socialism for the 21st century’, as Jeremy Corbyn put
Jeremy Corbyn’s speech to Labour conference started strongly before flagging in an overly long middle section. But I suspect this won’t matter much. Those in the hall could have listened to Corbyn for hours and the speech will, I suspect, clip down neatly for the news. The speech was a reminder of why the words
When Jeremy Corbyn gave his speech on Wednesday, the conference hall bore a closer resemblance to a stadium concert than your bog-standard political meeting. The Labour leader was given a hero’s welcome from party members decked out in Corbyn fan merchandise. He received a standing ovation before he’d even emitted a word, and an impromptu
Jeremy Corbyn was generous to the Shadow Cabinet in his conference speech, especially to Diane Abbott, who had a terrible election campaign personally, suffering from problems with her diabetes and horrendous racist and misogynist abuse. The Labour leader led a standing ovation to the Shadow Home Secretary, followed by a rendition of ‘happy birthday’. He
The ‘smart meter revolution’ is well and truly upon us, thanks mainly to a government campaign urging us all to have one installed in our homes. The £11bn campaign requires all energy suppliers to offer households a smart meter – which, in theory, should allow people to see exactly how much energy their house is
What is Jeremy Corbyn’s vision for Labour in government? Before the snap election, that question seemed so very irrelevant and hypothetical, but the 2017 result and the way the Tories have behaved since makes a Jeremy Corbyn premiership far more likely than anyone could have imagined. So his speech at Labour conference was quite understandably
Beware the Moore. This is the doctrine that establishment Republicans such as the Senate Majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who poured in millions of dollars to try and defeat Judge Roy Moore’s bid for the Republican Senate primary nomination in Alabama, were preaching in recent months. For good measure, President Trump also backed the current Senator Luther
Last December, Lavinia Woodward threw a laptop at her boyfriend and stabbed him in the lower leg with a breadknife, and injured two of his fingers. She then tried to stab herself with the knife before he disarmed her. For unlawful wounding, this medical student at Christchurch Oxford, could have got a three-year prison sentence;
We meet here this week as a united Party, advancing in every part of Britain, winning the confidence of millions of our fellow citizens, setting out our ideas and plans for our country’s future, that have already inspired people of all ages and backgrounds. And it’s a privilege to be speaking in Brighton. A city
John McDonnell has never had an easy relationship with big business. The shadow chancellor thinks there is a ‘lot to learn’ from Karl Marx and says one of his favourite pastimes is ‘fermenting the conditions to overthrow capitalism’. McDonnell is hoping his latest charm offensive to woo businesses will help them to forget those remarks. But
If you’re on the hunt for a new credit card – and you’re planning on paying off your card every month – it might make sense to look for one which rewards you for using your card. Here are the best fee-free cashback cards on the market at the moment, according to data provided by
The Machko teahouse in the centre of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, has seen much of the area’s history. Founded in 1940, it survived Saddam Hussein’s oppression and years of privation. On September 25th, it was packed with patrons gathering to watch the latest chapter in the Kurdish region’s long history unfold. Since June, when Kurdistan Regional
This year’s Labour conference has been largely overshadowed by a row about anti-Semitism. At a Labour Friends of Israel event on the final night of the party’s conference, Jeremy Corbyn had a perfect opportunity to send a message of support to worried Jewish Labour members. Instead, he didn’t show up. Labour MP Joan Ryan, who was chairing
Despite admitting in an interview in this morning’s edition of the Morning Star that he was ‘no bloody expert on Venezuela’, Chris Williamson, the Labour MP for Derby North, made it quite clear this afternoon who he believes is to blame for the socialist country’s problems – and it most certainly isn’t Maduro’s socialist government.
Brexit has been an odd sideshow to the Labour conference, with pro-Corbyn factions such as Momentum working hard to keep the topic away from any awkward votes on the floor of the Brighton Centre hall. Perhaps that’s why it took more than an hour for anyone to mention it as a potential issue the party
At this year’s Labour conference, party moderates are an endangered species. A lot of centrist MPs have given the event a miss – while those that are in attendance rarely make an appearance in the conference hall. So, Tom Watson’s speech today marked a turn up for the books. Labour’s deputy leader was given a
Conference, thank you for being here. Thanks for your enthusiasm, for your passion, for all your hard work on behalf of the Labour Party, on behalf of our country. I’m grateful to every one of you. Last week, the Prime Minister made yet another speech to reboot, yet again, her Brexit strategy. She chose to
One of the reasons this seems to be the happiest Labour Party conference in a long time is that there is very little conflict between the two very different factions in the party. Before the snap election, it seemed as though Labour was going to split – or at least that what was left of
Only last month, the Government was still keeping up the pretence of being optimistic that Brexit trade talks with the EU could start by October. Now the hope of doing so is fading fast. The European Council president Donald Tusk used a trip to Downing Street today to deliver a stark message: ‘there is not sufficient progress
Venezuela’s crisis shows no sign of stopping: protesters have been gunned down, opposition leaders rounded up – and the country recently unveiled a plan to combat food shortages by telling people to eat their rabbits. The country’s situation ‘ain’t perfect’, admits Labour’s Chris Williamson. In an interview with the Morning Star – where else? –
For the last ten months I have been working as an Uber driver in London. It is an amazing company to work for. Totally flexible, constantly innovative, fair and prompt in its payments. I’ve driven old people, youngsters, businessmen, drunks, choirgirls, cancer patients, a woman about to give birth, athletes (fit and injured) and visitors
Labour’s anti-Semitism row spills on to the front pages of today’s papers. ‘Labour is the real nasty party’, says the Daily Mail, following up remarks made at an event on the fringes of Labour conference. The party votes today on rule changes aimed at sending out a message that Labour will not tolerate anti-Semitism. But
Do you have to be a boring lefty to enjoy the films of Ken Loach? The reason I ask is, the British Film Institute have just rereleased three of Loach’s finest films on DVD, and though I loved them when they first came out, when I sat down to watch them again, after twenty years,
Oh, how wonderfully hilarious: Labour conference has a safe space. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a Party now led by eccentric former rebel backbenchers who’d probably still rather be making jam in peace in Islington, isn’t it? I ventured into the room marked ‘safe space’ in the Brighton Centre this week, half expecting to
In recent months, North Korea have fired missiles over Japan, tested a hydrogen bomb and boasted of expanding their nuclear programme to the extent that they could destroy parts of America. So, with that in mind, Mr S was grateful for the chance to hear the sound figures at Stop the War discuss ethical foreign
This year’s Labour conference has proved a topsy turvy affair for the Parliamentary Labour party. Moderates feel as though they have switched places with the far-left protesters that usually lurk on the outskirts of conference. As Ben Bradshaw put it, for the first time he found himself in the protests outside (as part of the anti-Brexit march) while
It’s Tom Watson’s turn to address Labour’s party conference today. Last year, he said it was ‘time to get the band back together’ – earning himself a standing ovation from delegates and a somewhat muted response from Jeremy Corbyn. Here are the highlights we can look forward to on day three: Labour conference: 9.30am: Financial reports;
After a conspicuous one year absence, Keith Vaz’s ‘Diversity Nite’ has made a comeback at Labour’s conference. Vaz kept a low profile at last year’s party gathering in the wake of allegations surrounding a pair of rent boys. This year, Vaz’s big conference bash – which involves members of the shadow cabinet dancing while Vaz presides on stage
How much time would you say you spent in your car per week, on average? Of course it’s something that varies hugely from person to person, but I’d put money on the fact that it’s more time than you might think. Recent research shows that the average UK driver spends 8 hours a week in
Big business is back with a vengeance at this year’s Labour conference. Twelve months ago, in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election as Labour leader, the party’s gathering was largely shunned by corporate firms. The likes of Google – who had exhibited in 2015 – stayed well away. But in the wake of the party’s
When Sadiq Khan spoke at last year’s Labour conference, his speech was deemed hostile to Jeremy Corbyn. Fresh from victory in the London mayoral election, Khan managed to say ‘power’ a whole 38 times – in what was widely interpreted as a thinly-veiled attack on the Labour leader’s lack of electoral appeal. So, what a difference a year
