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My conference pass was revoked for asking difficult questions: this is Keir Starmer’s Labour | Owen Jones

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 truthA 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.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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