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It was late in 1997 when I got to a small military base on the border between Israel and Lebanon. Straight out of training, my welcome to the base involved sitting in the war room wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest, hoping that the barrage of rockets flying over our heads, courtesy of Hezbollah,
It is not hard to imagine what will be in Rachel Reeves’ ‘industrial strategy’. There will be lots of ‘green industries’, along with plenty of ‘cutting-edge technologies’, all designed to nurture ‘national champions’ in the ‘sectors of the future’. And presumably Lord Alli, the Labour donor who has been footing the bill for Keir Starmer’s
Just as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves was talking in her conference speech about the importance of resolving public sector strikes, the Royal College of Nursing announced that its members had rejected their pay deal. Nurses have voted two thirds against the 5.5 per cent pay rise, and the College published a letter to Health Secretary
After the general election this year, Nigel Farage argued that he was now the leader of the opposition, after his Reform party took more than six million votes, and came second in swathes of seats across the north of England. The Conservatives furiously disagree with him of course, especially given the Tory party’s higher vote
Yet another natural disaster has struck in Japan as floods and landslides in the Noto peninsula, precipitated by ‘unprecedented’ rainfall, have killed seven (according to the state broadcaster NHK) with 10 people missing. As usual, these numbers are expected to rise. The Ishikawa area was pounded on Saturday with the heaviest continuous rainfall (540 millimetres
Rachel Reeves had to deal with unexpected turbulence in her party conference speech, after anti-Israel protesters interrupted her. But that was the easy bit, since she just opted to go for the Labour line for stage disruption: ‘We are a changed Labour party that represent working people – not the party of protest’. That response
It’s day two of Labour conference and Sir Keir Starmer’s freebie fiasco still hasn’t gone away. Over a week since it transpired that clothing donations to Lady Starmer hadn’t initially been declared properly, revelations that the Prime Minister has received over £107,000 in donations since 2019 have caused outrage among the party’s voter base –
It’s Rachel Reeves’ big day at conference today. After 80 days of doom and gloom, the Starmer army have concluded that this might not be doing wonders for business confidence and party morale. So the Chancellor is seeking to strike a more optimistic note in her address to activists, declaring that her budget will have
Emmanuel Macron’s new government marks, in the words of the BBC, ‘a decisive shift to the right’. That is also the view of Le Monde, the newspaper of the French left, which quotes Socialist party chairman Oliver Faure’s description of it as ‘a reactionary government that gives democracy the finger’. This government is not right
Anyone else getting fed up with ‘emergencies’? There was a time when that word meant something, but not any longer now that every other quango or town council has declared a ‘climate emergency’, ‘housing emergency’ or ‘nature emergency’ (not that the existence of multiple emergencies seems to stop their staff cutting their hours to four
To Liverpool, where Sir Keir Starmer is enjoying his first Labour conference in government, against the backdrop of rather stormy weather and an even worse week of press. On Sunday night, the Prime Minister attended the Scottish Labour reception to welcome new MPs north of the border and ramp up support for his Caledonian lot
Can Rachel Reeves inject some optimism into the debate around Britain’s economy? That seems to be her ambition today, as she prepares to address Labour conference – and the country – this afternoon, where she will look forward to a ‘decade of national renewal’ and promise ‘no return to austerity.’ The change in language is
For the second time in three weeks, the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has received a significant percentage of the votes at a state election in eastern Germany. The far-right party won 29.5 per cent of the votes in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin. Given the polls going into Sunday, the AfD might even be
In what will surely come as a relief to the German chancellor Olaf Scholz, his SPD party has won this weekend’s state elections in Brandenburg. Securing themselves another term in power, the party squeaked past the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) with 30.7 per cent of the vote. The AfD missed out by just 1.2
Introducing a tub-thumping op-ed in the Mail yesterday, Robert Jenrick quoted Orwell: ‘England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.’ Mr Jenrick’s thesis is a familiar one. It is that ‘England’s political and media elite’ (he didn’t get ‘metropolitan establishment’ in the text but it was supplied in
Events of the last week have demonstrated the fierce determination of some migrants to reach their European destination of choice. Last Sunday, hundreds of migrants stormed the frontier dividing Morocco from Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the African coast. The Moroccan police fired bullets into the air to ward off the intruders. ‘They do this deliberately to scare
Party conferences are never short of hyperbole. Whether it’s on the conference floor or the late night bar, impromptu speeches and after dinner speeches are often peppered with the kind of comments which come back to haunt a political party as their fortunes change for the worse. And while this year’s Labour jamboree is only
This weekend Labour ministers, MPs and delegates will arrive in Liverpool for their first conference in office since 2009. Following July’s thumping election victory, the official slogan for this week’s gathering is ‘Change Begins’. But after recent rows on winter fuel and No. 10 squabbles, is everyone in the party agreed on what that change
As well as being paid more than the Prime Minister, it seems Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff is getting more press attention these days too. It now transpires that Sue Gray will not be attending Labour’s conference this week, following bad briefings over her pay packet. Rather than attend the Liverpool love-in, Gray will
Last week, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance appeared on CNN’s State of the Union where he was interviewed by Dana Bash. During what could best be described as a testy exchange, Vance said he had ‘created’ the story of Haitian immigrants eating pets. Explaining that statement, he said he ‘created’ the story with memes and tweets, not
Poor Keir Starmer. One of the first things he did after becoming prime minister was to stuff the unions’ mouths with gold – with his government signing off bumper pay rises for striking train drivers, teachers and junior doctors. Still, as he should probably have known at this Labour conference in Liverpool: money can’t buy
Angela Rayner: ‘I don’t believe I broke any rules… in fact I think I was overly transparent’ The Labour conference has got off to an awkward start, as senior figures continue to battle controversy around donations, Starmer’s approval rating plummets, and anger persists over the winter fuel allowance. Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool, Deputy
Oh for the days of ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’. It only seems like yesterday that the likes of John McDonnell and Richard Burgon were commanding impressive crowds at Labour conference. Even last year, with the Starmerites in the ascendant, Labour left events were standing room only. Now though it seems like the fire has gone out
Sir Keir Starmer is having a tough time of it, what with his ongoing freebie fiasco, the cronyism row and bad briefings about his chief of staff. Now his fortunes have got even worse — literally. It turns out that the PM’s approval rating is at its lowest level yet, dropping a whopping 45 points
That nobody in Keir Starmer’s inner circle worked out that trashing his personal reputation for a hundred grand’s worth of free stuff was a bad deal tells us a lot. Worse still, nobody seems even to have clocked that accepting so many freebies, especially from the ambitious Labour peer Lord Alli, could prove politically toxic
Love them or loathe them, it’s hard not to have noticed Led By Donkeys. The protest group – made up, naturally, of four former Greenpeace workers – has taunted Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and David Cameron with its high-profile stunts. It is best known for projecting its protests – including one branding Boris a ‘liar’
It was about 9:15pm on 5 September when the roaring sound of a warplane began to hum across the hills. Tucked away in a valley in Pekon Township in Myanmar, on the border with Karenni and Shan states, a community of some thousand people were about to go to sleep. Illuminated only by small solar-powered
There must be carnage in the countryside. That’s the only explanation for a stampede of anxious headlines about the danger of cows. ‘Are these the UK’s most dangerous animals,’ asked the front page of the Guardian this week alongside a picture of a bemused bovine. The Daily Star was at it too: the paper called
This weekend Labour hosts its party conference in power for the first time in 15 years. The great and the not-so-good of the labour movement is descending on Liverpool to eat, drink and debate the merits of mission-led government. Bottoms up chaps! Kicking off proceedings is Angela Rayner, tasked with appearing on the BBC’s flagship
What is Keir Starmer wearing, how much is it worth and who paid for it? That’s normally a question only asked of female politicians, or prime ministers’ wives, but thanks to the Labour leader’s love of a freebie, his own fashion choices are going to be one of the hot topics at Labour Party conference.
To Liverpool for Labour’s first party conference since Keir Starmer triumphed in the general election. On paper, this ought to be a jubilant affair for all involved. The party has returned to power after 14 years with a large majority, which ought to pave the way for a second term. Yet few in the party
The Labour government’s u-turn on freebies, its disclosure last night that it will no longer accept donations for clothes, is an admission that it has got it wrong. But ‘wrong’ in which sense of the word? Wrong in that they admit that they committed an error, or wrong in that they have behaved immorally? Their
As if Sir Keir Starmer didn’t have enough on his plate what with his freebie scandal, Sue Gray inquiry and his first Labour party conference as PM, his own backbencher has taken aim at him — again. For the third time this week, Diane Abbott has once again very publicly slammed her party leader. Taking
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It’s easy enough to keep both business and the unions on side when you are vague about your policies – and when your opponent is messing up so badly. That was Labour’s position going into the election. But now that it’s in government, can it keep that balancing act up? Next week’s Labour party conference