by Eamon Dyas The new definition Although the process had begun much earlier, the change in the definition of antisemitism began to have a direct bearing on the British body politic after Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party since 2015, took the party close to government in the 2017 general election. It was only … Continue reading The re-imagining of antisemitism and its implications
The ritual of the annual Mais lecture took place on 19th March. The Mais lectures have been taking place since 1978. The year is not accidental. Thatcher was about to come to power. She proposed to abandon the postwar economic consensus of a managed economy in which the state assumed responsibility for economic areas considered crucial to economic success: health, … Continue reading Reeves in a Straightjacket—Editorial
John Clayden (The photo shows Ernest Bevin on the right of Churchill, 8 May 1945)The Left and that includes the very influential Zionist left have succeeded in wiping out a substantial chunk of working-class history namely the crucial contribution made by Ernest Bevin. This will come as no surprise to dedicated readers of this magazine … Continue reading Historical Context is Crucial—Ernest Bevin and Zionism
Workers Party Victory in Rochdale—Thursday 29 February 2024 Labour Affairs congratulates George Galloway on his victory. George Galloway has won a landslide victory in the Rochdale by-election, saying his victory showed Keir Starmer has paid a “high price” for his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict as Labour’s suspended candidate slumped to fourth in its former … Continue reading Workers Party Victory in Rochdale
Keir Starmer has one objective, to win the next general election and form the next government, preferably with a large overall majority. Anything that might endanger achieving that objective will be removed. Starmer identified, early on in his leadership, that one danger was the opposition of the powerful Zionist lobby in the UK. He has consequently gone to … Continue reading Starmer’s Gaza Problems—Editorial 1
The byelection result in Rochdale is a huge rebuff to the political establishment. The Workers Party of Britain chose to make campaigning for the end of the Israel genocide of the inhabitants of Gaza a key point of its programme and this has found strong resonance amongst the voters in the constituency who elected George … Continue reading Rochdale a Rebuff to Starmer—Editorial 2
Eamon Dyas The idea that a member of the Royal Family would feel compelled to seek the approval of the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Sir Ephraim Mirvis (he was awarded his knighthood only last year), before commenting on a conflict in which Israel is committing war crimes is noteworthy. If such war crimes … Continue reading Zionism, Corbyn and the Prince
Eamon Dyas Zionism in Gaza and the support it gets from the West is a lifting of the “painted veil" that is civilisation. Whatever happens to the Labour vote after this, Labour GH will have a ready-made excuse to explain it. The same excuse will be used to explain the lack of locally sourced energy … Continue reading Rochdale—Another view
Original SNP motion: That this House calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel; notes with shock and distress that the death toll has now risen beyond 28,000, the vast majority of whom were women and children; further notes that there are currently 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, 610,000 of whom are children; … Continue reading Gaza in Parliament, Wednesday 29th February 2024—For the Record
The massive marches against Israel’s genocide that have taken place in London and other parts of the country since October have been met with hostility by Labour, putting the party at odds with some of its core electorate. In a recent speech to the Jewish Labour Movement Starmer came close to Suella Braverman’s claim that … Continue reading Labour, Palestine and Imperialism
The problem of housing the less-affluent working class. By Eamon Dyas We have now arrived at the point where the second Labour minority government took power in 1929. In terms of housing policy the most significant difference between this second Labour administration and its predecessor was the absence of John Wheatley, from Ramsay MacDonald’s 1929 … Continue reading LABOUR AND HOUSING – Part 14.
Letter to the Editor from a Labour Party member In September this year Labour Affairs published an articled entitled “Purges in the Labour Party” which began: “Starmer’s campaign of exclusion and harassment. This topic requires a report on the scale of the Forde report, which took two years to investigate complaints of all sorts regarding the behaviour … Continue reading Labour Party Harassment
Labour suspends MP over calling for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. A note from Eamon Dyas The phrase Andy McDonald used at a pro-peace rally was: “We will not rest until we have justice. Until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty." The expression … Continue reading Andy McDonald Suspended
(The image above comes from the International Development Committee) Michael Murray Introduction The UN requires that countriesallocate 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the purposes of the economic development and welfareof developing countries. TheInternational Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 lays down how the UK will meet this requirement … Continue reading Tory and Labour U-turns on Aid to Developing Countries
The funding of social housing provision (cont.): Neville Chamberlain and John Wheatley (The image above shows John Wheatley) By Eamon Dyas In parts 11 and 12 we examined the issue of the funding of social housing provision from 1851 to Chamberlain’s Housing Act of 1923 just before the advent of the first Labour Government. The … Continue reading LABOUR AND HOUSING – Part 13
BBC Interview with Sharon Graham BBC 14/7/23 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66203880 Labour needs to be "bolder" and "more ambitious", rather than "tinkering around the edges", the head of the UK's second largest union has told the BBC. Unite leader Sharon Graham warned that otherwise "apathy" would be the winner at the next general election. The union gives more … Continue reading Sharon Graham BBC Interview
Starmer’s campaign of exclusion and harassment. Catherine Dunlop This topic requires a report on the scale of the Forde report, which took two years to investigate complaints of all sorts regarding the behaviour of officers and members. What follows is a selection of headings of topics that need to be investigated to explain how the current … Continue reading Purges in the Labour Party
In last month’s issue Labour Affairs argued that the British two-party system of representative parliamentary democracy was largely a theatre, giving the impression of serious political rivalry about substantial policies but artfully concealing underlying agreements between the parties on nearly all the important issues. Conventional party politics is an illusion of real choice. Phoney antagonisms are worked … Continue reading Party Politics and State Power—Editorial
Labour Affairs 