It’s not just poor organisation—Labour Live was always going to fail

Tens of thousands of people hanging on your every word and singing your name to the heavens. Who wouldn’t want to experience that? More pertinently, who—having experienced it once—wouldn’t want to recreate it?

It is very easy to see how, after the high of Corbyn’s post-election appearance at Glastonbury, the temptation to go big on Labour Live was as difficult to resist as it has proved impossible to deliver. According to reports, ticket sales are rather low and my younger, cooler friends tell me the line up isn’t up to much. Even I can see that there’s no Stormzy there—an oversight apparently caused by him already being booked to do something else. Which begs the question why that wasn’t checked before the date was set.

Politics, Cultureemma@politicalhuman.com5 June 2018Prospect Magazine, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Live, Glastonbury, Tory Glastonbury

Honouring Jo Cox doesn’t just mean coming together

This weekend, people up and down the country will be coming together to remember Jo Cox, the Labour MP who was shot and killed by a man in the name of his extreme right wing beliefs. At The Great Get Together, friends and neighbours of all politics will come together in Jo’s name to celebrate what we have in common.

Jo was killed at a difficult time for our country. We were at the height of an extremely divisive referendum that split the country almost exactly in half. Families fell out, neighbours fought, friends stopped speaking. Since that time, particularly on the left, it has felt like this mode has been constant, with the Labour leadership contest that followed the referendum creating further splits, even between people who had campaigned side by side to remain in the EU. The recent election that followed a year later has helped bring Labour Party back together—but equally demonstrated that we remain a very divided country.

PoliticsEmma Burnell16 June 2017Jo Cox, Labour Party, Prospect Magazine

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