Richard Burgon fails to draw a crowd at Labour conference

Oh for the days of ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’. It only seems like yesterday that the likes of John McDonnell and Richard Burgon were commanding impressive crowds at Labour conference. Even last year, with the Starmerites in the ascendant, Labour left events were standing room only. Now though it seems like the fire has gone out of the revolution…

At a Morning Star event entitled, ‘What’s in it for the workers? Pushing a Labour government left’, it was slim pickings this morning, with stalwart of the barricades John McDonnell sending his solidarity from home after catching Covid. 

It was therefore left to Richard Burgon to be the red star of the show. But it appears the former shadow justice secretary doesn’t quite have the pulling power he once did, with most of the seats in the small room left empty.

As a result only a miserly group of Labour delegates were able to enjoy Burgon’s rousing call for a wealth tax and equalising capital gains tax with income tax.