Danielle Rowley: This is why Michael Gove’s speech made me angry

By Danielle Rowley

During this week’s House of Commons debate on the motion of no confidence in the government, I got extremely angry listening to Michael Gove’s speech. While he was giving the government’s official response to the debate, I raised a point of order to challenge some of the harmful rhetoric that was being used. This rhetoric was clearly designed to whip up fear and to polarise – something that is very dangerous in the current climate. The motion we were meant […]

Roy Kennedy: Here’s what we must add to the Offensive Weapons Bill

By Roy Kennedy

The Offensive Weapons Bill is currently making its way through parliament, with provisions to restrict the sale of corrosive substances, knives and firearms. These steps to protect the public and tackle violent crime are urgently needed. As we introduce new restrictions on the sale of these items, however, it is crucial that we also act to protect the shop workers responsible for enforcing them, and who we already rely on to police the sale of 25 other types of products […]

Brexit and beyond: Starmer, Watson and Thornberry at Fabian conference

Tomorrow the Fabian Society will hold its 2019 New Year conference, Brexit and Beyond, where top Labour frontbenchers will be joined by backbench MPs, MEPs, campaigners and political commentators to discuss the next steps for Brexit and the priorities for an incoming Labour government. Labour’s Brexit spokesperson Keir Starmer is set to deliver the keynote speech of the event, which comes just days after Theresa May’s Brexit deal was put to the the House of Commons and she suffered the worst defeat […]

A new Brexit date, but no new Brexit plan

By Sienna Rodgers

Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning. We’ve got a new Brexit vote date: 29th January. But there’s no sign of a new Brexit plan from Theresa May, who engaged in cross-party talks yesterday that appeared to be purely performative. Jeremy Corbyn did his best to get some movement going. As discussed in yesterday’s email, the opposition leader has decided to snub substantive Brexit talks until ‘no deal’ is ruled out. In his Hastings speech, he told […]

Alf Dubs: We cannot allow the far right to exploit refugee and migration issues here

By Alf Dubs

By any standards, the UK’s current immigration and refugee policies are failing. We don’t know how, or even if, Brexit will happen. But in any event, the British government could be doing more to assist the world’s refugees and should show leadership on the issue beyond our possible exit from the European Union.   Of all refugees, children are the most vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Mindful of this, in 2016, parliament agreed to the principle that we should take […]