With the death of Pope Francis, the world loses not only a church leader but also a moral compass

LAST week, opinion polls suggested that Labour would win 48 per cent of the vote and finish with 424 seats in the Commons in a general election. The Tories, on 21 per cent, would get 121 seats; the Lib Dems, on 10 per cent, 33 seats; the SNP, on 5 per cent, 49 seats and the Greens, on 7 per cent, just one seat.
This is even higher than the 40 per cent actually won in 2017 with Jeremy Corbyn’s radical manifesto.
Labour’s lead is the result when, in a first-past-the-post (FPTP) election regime, the Tories have become terminally unpopular. On this score, under proportional representation (PR), Labour should have 100 fewer seats; the Tories a handful more; the Lib Dems more than double and the Greens 44 new seats.

The left must avoid shouting ‘racist’ and explain that the socialist alternative would benefit all


