IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE, but Labour’s narrow victory in the Batley and Spen by-election - thanks to a last minute intervention by Matt Hancock - just postpones the day of reckoning for Starmer and his allies.

There is thirst for change in our streets, in our communities, in our trade unions and beyond, all crying out for courageous, progressive political leadership and a political vehicle to deliver that change. What better vehicle can there be than the Labour Party, rooted as it is in the trade union movement? But we are at a crossroads. Time is running out for Starmer, with his devastating abdication of political leadership. For both our movement and the planet, it really is a choice: class politics or oblivion!

Would Starmer at last seize the moment, direct public anger at those responsible for the deaths and impoverishment of our people, connect the different layers of resistance and give our movement leadership and confidence that he was preparing for a decisive and radical future Labour government? Not a bit of it!

THE WORLD IS REELING AFTER DONALD TRUMP’S failed coup and attempt to ignite civil war across the United States. The coup attempt was in some ways a farce but Trump’s white supremacist troops - an embryonic fascist network of militias armed to the teeth - are now on the march.

When Jeremy, referring to the issue of antisemitism in the party, said that the “scale of the problem was dramatically overstated for political reasons”, he was telling an obvious truth. We repeat it here because it is a truth that is beyond any serious challenge.

Our strength must - as always - come from class struggle.

After the series of disastrous defeats the left has suffered, finding common ground for a left slate has been a key priority

Toppling statues and other forms of direct action may be new territory for much of the Labour left. But we must engage, connect and organise.

This is a moment for Labour to be bold.

CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE is the most fitting description of Boris Johnson’s approach to the Covid-19 crisis.

The crucial question is: who is most likely to stand firm under fire? On past performance, we cannot be sure about Starmer. He supported ten year prison sentences for benefit cheats. He abstained on the Tories’ 2015 welfare reform. He supported 2016’s ‘chicken coup’ to force out Jeremy Corbyn. These are not the hallmarks of leadership. In contrast, Rebecca Long-Bailey has a far more principled record. As she says herself, “I don't just agree with the policies, I've spent the last four years writing them.”

LABOUR’S ELECTORAL DEFEAT was a threefold catastrophe.

Johnson’s approach, although hugely damaging, has the appeal of simplicity and fits a public mood of ‘getting the job done’. There are dangers implicit in Labour proposing a second referendum only after an attempt to renegotiate a better deal – how long might that take?

WE RETURN FROM OUR HOLIDAYS to a crisis on every front - economic, political, constitutional and environmental. Prepare for turbulence!

Britain’s Tories have long been profligate when it comes to helping their corporate friends. Now their lurch towards an intolerant authoritarianism could take them into a terminal phase.

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER TRUMP VISIT, another demonstration. But there are particularly urgent reasons to protest this summer.

In the 1930s, a decade of economic depression nurtured fascism. We may be seeing a similar development and the stakes could be just as high.

John McDonnell MP has called for a “mammoth listening exercise”. Let’s start by listening to the new mass membership, the social movements and wider support base that responded to us at the last election.

As we go to press, a cross-party initiative is proposing a bill to allow MPs to usurp the functions of government, delay Article 50 and rule out a No Deal Brexit. In practice this may be the surest way to give teeth to Jeremy's demand and take No Deal right off the table once and for all.

How long Theresa May can remain Prime Minister is anyone’s guess.

Let’s end the agony, have a general election and consign this government to the dustbin of history. Forward to a Labour victory!

There’s a responsibility on the whole movement now - left and right, party and unions - to see the bigger picture and recognise that we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring down the curtain on 40 years of neo-liberal greed and turn a new page.