Author: Miles Donavan

“We need to listen to our MPs more, respect them more and I hope this deputy leadership contest will open up a debate about that whole approach to running the PLP and the Labour Party.” The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has said that the next deputy leader of the Labour Party must be someone who can “root themselves in the mainstream, the heartbeat of the party”. Speaking to Times Radio, Burnham also backed a northern woman for the deputy leadership contest. He said: “I think it helps because for all the reasons I was just saying, I spent…

The motion passed with 2,871,000 votes in favour and 2,291,000 votes against. Delegates at this year’s TUC Congress in Brighton have voted to end its support for increases in defence spending. The Congress passed a motion – ‘Wages Not Weapons’ which reversed a policy that had been adopted at the 2022 Congress. The motion was proposed by the University and College Union (UCU) and seconded by RMT. It called for the TUC to ‘prioritise campaigning for public investment in Britain’s public realm’, to ‘commit to a safe, liveable planet’, and to ‘reaffirm that our movement’s priority is welfare and wages,…

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson also said: “We are absolutely backing the Employment Rights Bill.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged that there will be ‘no rowing back’ on the Employment Rights Bill, despite pressure from some businesses to water it down. After Angela Rayner’s resignation from government, some union bosses had expressed fears that the bill could be watered down, however the Prime Minister has reiterated his support for the Employment Rights Bill which will amount to the biggest uplift to workers’ rights in a generation. Under the bill, workers will get protection against unfair dismissal and sick pay…

‘The Labour Party as a party of change is beyond dead’ The Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said he wants trade unions to affiliate to the Green Party, Left Foot Forward can reveal. He made the comments in an interview with Left Foot Forward at this year’s Trades Union Congress in Brighton. Polanski told Left Foot Forward that he wanted to see a “much stronger relationship” between the Greens and trade unions. When pressed on whether that meant he wanted to see unions funding and affiliating to the Greens, he said: “yes to all of that”, going on to…

‘I’ve taken on powerful vested interests in the education sector – and even as they threw everything at me, I have never taken a backwards step. I will bring that same determination to every battle ahead of us.’ Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has become the first cabinet minister to announce their candidacy to succeed Angela Rayner as the next deputy leader of the Labour Party. Announcing her intention to stand in the contest, Phillipson said in a statement: “Today I am putting myself forward as a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Labour party, to unite our great party…

“It’s clear that the Green Party and the trade union movement are very strongly aligned in our vision for what needs to change in the UK” The former Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer has said that the Green Party has ‘better aligned values’ with trade unions than the Labour Party. Denyer made the comments during an interview with Left Foot Forward at this year’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton. Denyer was chairing what Left Foot Forward understands is the first ever Green Party hosted fringe at Trades Union Congress. At the fringe, Denyer talked about her ‘Energy Jobs Bill’…

The former shadow chancellor has called for a ‘popular front’ against Reform The left needs to “learn the lesson of history” to prevent a “far-right, proto-fascist government” being elected under Reform, the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. McDonnell made the comments in an interview with Left Foot Forward at this year’s TUC Congress in Brighton. Speaking to Left Foot Forward about the new party being formed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, John McDonnell said he was “staying within the Labour Party” because there was still the potential for things to “change rapidly” within Labour. He added: “With…

Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, called for the government to engage rather than trying to ‘appease Reform’ The PCS union hasn’t been able to secure a meeting with Home Secretary to discuss a proposed safe routes policy for migration, its general secretary Fran Heathcote has claimed. Heathcote revealed this in an interview with Left Foot Forward at this year’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton. Heathcote told Left Foot Forward: “What we always try and do in PCS is articulate not just want what we don’t want to see, but what would be a workable alternative. So, we’ve developed our…

Left Foot Forward spoke to Richard Burgon at TUC Congress in Brighton Left wing Labour MP Richard Burgon has claimed that the Labour leadership has deliberately made it hard for a left wing candidate to get on the ballot in the deputy leadership election, claiming they would ‘move heaven and earth’ to prevent this. Labour is set to elect a new deputy leader following the resignation of Angela Rayner. Burgon made the comments in an interview with Left Foot Forward at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton this week. Burgon has said he wants to see a left…

“Farage was happy for everyone to know about Rayners finances. But why is he secretive about his own… ?” The sheer hypocrisy! Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been criticised after saying that he is ‘not inclined’ to publish his tax returns, despite other party leaders pledging to do so. Farage has declared more than £800,000 on top of his MPs’ salary since being elected to Parliament and over the weekend was challenged by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg to be transparent about his tax affairs and to follow in the footsteps of other party leaders. Asked whether he would publish…