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

THERE was rightly a furore after Tory MPs (for the most part) voted not to carry through the suspension of Tory MP Owen Paterson from Parliament (Paterson himself voted against his suspension) for breaching lobbying rules — a decision which Keir Starmer correctly labelled “corruption.”
MPs have expected standards of behaviour and an independent committee found that Paterson had broken them.
Johnson’s response was not to back the committee but to have a look and see if rules could be changed to allow corrupt dealings.

KEITH FLETT looks at the long history of coercion in British employment laws

The government cracking down on something it can’t comprehend and doesn’t want to engage with is a repeating pattern of history, says KEITH FLETT

While Hardie, MacDonald and Wilson faced down war pressure from their own Establishment, today’s leadership appears to have forgotten that opposing imperial adventures has historically defined Labour’s moral authority, writes KEITH FLETT

10 years ago this month, Corbyn saved Labour from its right-wing problem, and then the party machine turned on him. But all is not lost yet for the left, says KEITH FLETT