
Mike Freer: If Khan is serious about fighting anti-Semitism, he must break publicly from Momentum
His warm words are all well and good, but they have to be backed up with action.
His warm words are all well and good, but they have to be backed up with action.
“The deficit deniers have taken over the Opposition.”
Consulting members is very important, but so are elected representatives, independent experts and public polling. Labour’s leader is trying to shut the latter out.
Relatively moderate members of the Opposition know that they disagree with the Hard Left, but they have no idea what to do in response.
At the launch of the Lambeth branch of the Corbynite faction, activists, audience members and the Shadow Chancellor made their intentions very clear.
The generous, incredulous belief that the normal rules would apply even a little was a failure to grasp the uniqueness of the pit Labour has thrown itself into.
Labour MPs control the policy machinery and the succession, so those who want a party that resembles the leader they chose have to beat them.
First the appointment of McDonnell, now the recruitment of Milne, point to his fundamental flaw.
The Trotskyistas can’t stop his pension. So he can happily tell them to bog off.
Plus: Our fringe programme for Manchester in full, including other major events on families policy with Priti Patel and how to respond to Corbyn with Liam Fox.
Plus: Loud sounds from Tom Watson. Pig noises from Craig Oliver. And: Come and hear me make a fool of myself in Manchester on Sunday.
“Of course there is a money tree, it’s called the Bank of England. That’s how countries make money.”
Corbyn has retreated on NATO and the EU, been slapped down on Trident, and now his Shadow Chancellor has delivered a speech the old leadership could have written.
There’s a lot of focus on Corbyn’s personality and Labour’s policies. But it’s worth taking an exacting look at the condition of the party on the ground.
As Labour’s conference opens, we can’t afford to lose our radical edge.