Tribune Blog

I can’t even remember the day the letter arrived. Certainly no one bothered to wait at home for the mail. Least of all me. I had a valley to conquer …

Power. That was the fundamental gulf between this ­autumn’s Labour and Conservative conferences. ­Power. The Tories flaunted power in Birmingham while the hard truth is Labour displayed little or none …

After more than five decades of violent conflict in Colombia, finally peace was in sight. Four years in the making, a new deal that was brokered between the government and …

Monster’s ball Theresa May appears to have recognised that the Black and White Ball, the ultra-lavish annual Tory fund-raiser where table places go for up to £1,500 a head, may …

The exclusively Protestant Orange Order needs to decide if it can become a vehicle for the rebirth of Christian socialism in Ireland, or take advantage of the growing cross-border relations …

Lewis Carroll would have had a field day had he been alive to attend the Tory and Labour conferences. In Liverpool, for all the earlier talk of a fight for …

The NHS is struggling to reconcile burgeoning health demands with the need to limit spending. It does not have the money to fund care for all those who need it …

The Tories gather in Birmingham following a Labour Party conference which opened with what we hope is not an annual event – a Labour leadership election result – and was …

When it comes to equality the Labour Party has been pioneering. We are the Party of the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Race Relations Act. It …

Keith Waterhouse once suggested that anyone who felt his (sic) faith in the Labour Party waning should make sure that they attended conference as they would most assuredly be inspired, …

As Westminster business resumes, don’t expect a change of direction from the new Prime Minister and her Government.   All three party conferences – Liberal ­Democrat, Labour and Tory – …

The United Nations this week has its annual ‘General Debate’ where world leaders congregate to exchange platitudes across the floor and meet each other on the sidelines. Diplomacy is like …

New Labour is in its death throes and is experiencing severe convulsions as its former dominance over the Labour Party is being comprehensively expunged. This is manifesting itself with increasingly …

In 1976, after James Callaghan won the Labour Leadership contest to succeed Harold Wilson, Labour’s former deputy leader Roy Jenkins resigned as an MP to become President of the European …

At last Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQs) Jeremy Corbyn heard a sound that up until then had been absent from the Commons Chamber – the sound of cheering from …

While awaiting the beatification of St Jeremy the Wise, for which Liverpool cathedral (either of them) would be more appropriate that the soulless conference centre, I looked up his entry …

Labour Party members have let themselves down very badly of late. For over a decade they were admirable, demonstrating first class muteness and dumbness while their superiors got on with …

Love for sale Fancy a lunch with Theresa May at the upcoming Conservative Party in Birmingham? it will set you back £3,000 – the price per head under the shindig’s …

The UK Parliament boasts more ‘out’ LGBT members than any other parliament in the world. I was recently commissioned to interview some of them for the gay glossy magazine Pride …

The counter-revolution is in full swing. The African National Congress (ANC) is, in the words of our deputy president, at war with itself. The Cabinet too. The tight coterie around …

August 31 marked the end of an golden era in Brazil and its economic development. On that Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. After six years …