Napoleon said that “to know a nation’s geography is to know its foreign policy” and this holds true for the Baltic nation of Estonia. Its strategically vital place on the map explains both why aggressive neighbours inflicted misery on it in the 20thcentury and why it is now a keen
As Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves rounds up her tour of the US, it’s worth reflecting on its overall meaning. For the New Statesman’s Rachel Wearmouth, the trip is of real importance: ‘if Labour does win the next election, I wonder if people will look back at Rachel Reeves’ visit to
During the local elections campaign I wrote an article entitled ‘The Tory Myth of 1000 seats’. I wrote that the Conservative chairman’s assertion that the Tories would lose a thousand seats on 4 May was ‘ludicrous’. I further accused Mr Hands of peddling ‘nonsense’ and ‘fake news’. Now that the Conservatives
Labour should not count its chickens before any general election and especially one that will take place in highly dangerous international conditions where various vultures are preying on weaker states and making the UK vulnerable. Jeremy Cliffe rightly says we face “…a febrile and multipolar world in which the US
Who is winning the election expectations battle? Behind the scenes of the fierce contest for England’s local councils another bare-knuckle fight is being fought. This one is not fought with voter I.D, leaflets, and rosettes, but instead with projections, predictions, and briefings to the press. This is the expectations battle, and
This May’s local elections are gearing up to be a key test for Labour in making further decisive inroads into local Conservative control of key councils. Battlegrounds include Bolton, Walsall and Plymouth, amongst others. A less heralded tussle, which nonetheless could be a harbinger of fights to come over left
If Labour forms the next government, everything it plans to achieve in two terms will be based on five national missions. The party will need to focus on outcomes. Stability will inevitably need to be at the centre of delivery. It will also need to develop a new state of
Useful idiots who supported Soviet invasions, or “fraternal assistance” in the Orwellian lingo of the day, were rightly damned as “tankies.” Progressives now back genuine assistance to Ukraine including heavy metal military kit. We are all tankies now, perhaps.Russian aggression has triggered a steep learning curve on defence and foreign policy. Neutral Finland and
Like the olfactory pleasure emanating from a coffee grinder or bread-maker, there is a brimming, pleasing sense of confidence coming off the Labour Party. It smells like victory. To eavesdrop the behind-the-scenes conversations of some of the young people working for Labour is to hear a generation measuring up the
On this International Women’s Day, whilst we celebrate our proud achievements as a Labour movement, the fact that over 50% of our parliamentary party are women, we must also remain concentrated on areas where we still need to improve: local and devolved government. We do not get thriving, representative democracy
