VIJAY PRASHAD looks at the web of militias and drug-trafficking gangs that emerged in the Sweida region through the Syrian civil war, and how they relate to recent clashes and Israel’s intervention
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Global Counsel, local avarice
Peter Mandelson might be giving unofficial advice to Keir Starmer — but in his day job running lobbying firm Global Counsel, he is hiring former Conservative ministers, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Peter Mandelson
by Roger D Harris and John Perry
VINCE MILLS says Scottish Labour has adopted better positions than its Westminster counterpart — but unless it starts to fight for them that will count for nothing
Labour MSP CAROL MOCHAN calls for Britain to follow France’s lead and recognise the Palestinian state as part of efforts to end this war
A Chilean court ruled that funds were illegally taken by the dictator to accumulate family wealth that is now disputed among his heirs, writes PABLO MERIGUET
The shock suspension of socialist MPs and Diane Abbott’s re-suspension reveals a leadership intent on crushing internal debate — but MERCEDES VILLALBA MSP warns against surrendering party democracy without a fight
PETER MANDELSON emerged as an “unofficial” adviser to Starmer’s team during the botched Hartlepool by-election. Morgan McSweeney, who is close to Mandelson, was Starmer’s chief of staff and is now Labour’s “elections director.”
Mandelson was one of the key — and controversial — architects of New Labour, shifting the party in a right-wing, pro-big business direction. Mandelson was Labour’s campaign director in the 2010 election: Labour lost that election, so, out of a job, Mandelson set up Global Counsel, which he co-owns with former Blair communications director Ben Wegg-Prosser.
Global Counsel promises to help big businesses with “Navigating politics, business and policymaking” and charges corporate clients for advice on how to “manage risk and see opportunities in politics, regulation and public policy.”
More from this author
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
US General Stanley McChrystal has been invited to advise on creating a ‘team of teams’ for healthcare transformation. His credentials? He previously ran interrogation bases where Iraqis were stripped naked and beaten, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
