by Marcus Barnett
NOWHERE has been hit harder by Tory cuts than the North, shadow chancellor John McDonnell told Labour activists at the weekend.
Speaking at the party’s north-west regional conference in Southport, Mr McDonnell is expected to say: “Our country has had a Conservative decade of decline inflicted on it.
Apart from a bright spark of hope in the victory of the Gaza motion, this year’s conference lacked vision and purpose — we need to urgently reconnect Labour with its roots rather than weakly aping the flag-waving right, argues KIM JOHNSON MP
We cannot refuse to abolish the unjustifiable two-child benefit cap that pushes children into poverty while finding billions of pounds for defence spending — the membership and the public expect better from Labour, writes JON TRICKETT MP



