Margaret Hodge’s lessons from east London on countering the far right
Mainstream parties must win back white working-class voters by focusing on local issues, says the former Labour MP
WHEN LABOUR swept back into power in last month’s British general election, I felt elated. But I also grew worried about the potential implications of the results for mainstream politics. The numbers that emerged on the night of July 4th reminded me of what happened in Barking from 2001 to 2010, when we lived through the alarming rise of the British National Party (BNP). The far-right, anti-immigrant riots that have erupted in English towns and cities in recent days make it even more important to learn the lessons we can from the east London constituency I represented for 30 years.
Explore more
More from By Invitation
Bangladesh has achieved its second liberation, says Muhammad Yunus
The interim government’s new leader argues for releasing political prisoners and holding a free election
The real winner of Venezuela’s election urges the regime to face facts
A peaceful transfer of power is still possible, says Edmundo González
Thailand’s thwarted election winner on the move to ban his party
Weaponising the courts to muzzle dissent will fail in the long run, says Pita Limjaroenrat
Keep the code behind AI open, say two entrepreneurs
Martin Casado and Ion Stoica argue that open-source models will power innovation without compromising security
Not all AI models should be freely available, argues a legal scholar
The more capable they are, the greater the risk of catastrophe, reckons Lawrence Lessig
Neil Kinnock on the post-war-like challenges facing Keir Starmer
A lack of social cohesion compared with 1945 makes them even more daunting, says the former Labour leader and Starmer confidant