I was told it was a ‘safeguarding’ issue. This speaks to a party that has not only lost its soul, but is scared of the truth
A party without a soul, a purpose, or tolerance for dissent: that’s the lasting impression of Labour from its annual jamboree in Liverpool.
Corporate Britain is stamped over everything. There’s a “hub” sponsored by the lobbying firm Anacta, whose clients range from an Israeli-owned arms company to various airlines. Ministers chatter with suited business types in a “lounge” sponsored by Arden Strategies – the “advisory and communications firm” run by the former Labour cabinet minister Jim Murphy, now a key conduit between boardrooms and government – while the invite-only Politico Pub is underwritten by Uber. Labour’s commitment to a third Heathrow runway is boastfully projected on to a conference wall. Signs of idealism are scarce: the party shop sells posters of Barbara Castle, but given her scalding denunciations of Blairism, one can imagine what she’d make of this one-note tribute act to New Labour.
The soullessness has much to do with the “climate of fear” diagnosed by Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and pretender to the Labour crown. The most authoritarian leadership in the party’s history has waged a remorseless war on dissent, transforming Labour into a hollowed out husk, where contempt for injustice is considered dangerous extremism. Labour MPs have been variously suspended for opposing Israel’s genocide, the Tory two-child benefit cap and Starmer’s attempted attack on disability benefits. When predominantly Muslim councillors resigned over Gaza, one Labour source dismissed it as “shaking off the fleas”. Members, Burnham notes, face suspension for something as minor as “liking a tweet by another political party”.
