Labour on the Brink: Debating the Party’s Future

It seems hard to believe that the 2015 general election was only 18 months ago, so profound has been the change in the political landscape since the Tories’ unexpected triumph. For Labour, the political and emotional traumas of that defeat have been resonating ever since as it’s reeled from Jeremy Corbyn’s shock victory in last...

Corbyn Urged to Speak Out on Syria

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been urged to speak out against “the ongoing slaughter of civilians by Russian and Assad-regime forces in Syria” by party members, Momentum activists and socialists, including many self-declared Corbyn supporters. Signatories to the open letter, published online on 3 October, declare their “wholehearted” agreement with Corbyn’s opposition to militarism and...

Corbyn: Labour’s Accidental Leader

IAN BULLOCK’s recurring nightmare is that the Labour Party will end up like the ILP at the end of the 1930s – with a leader who could do no wrong in the eyes of an adoring membership, but with little or no political influence, let alone power. ‘At least Jimmy Maxton was a brilliant...

Stand by Conference Policies

HARRY BARNES calls for the Labour’s leadership candidates to stand by the party’s current policies as decided by party conference, and by future conferences. The Labour leadership candidates should be pushed to come to an agreement to stand by party policies as these have been (and will come to be) agreed by Labour Party conference....

Labour’s Nuclear Question

Can Labour find a way to bridge its divisions over Trident? Or will a policy to scrap the nuclear warheads strike a final nail into the party’s electoral coffin? BARRY WINTER calls for a national debate and a Labour-led referendum on the issue....

Halting the Unions’ Decline

Trade unions are in a spot of bother, according to SHEILA BANKS. And Labour is partly to blame. The party needs a new way of connecting to union members that taps directly into their workplace experience. Throughout my working life, I have been an active trade unionist and representative, so I want to look at...