THE appointment of a new shadow cabinet is an opportunity for the Labour Party to face up to the challenge Theresa May’s bleak new Britain presents.

Jeremy Corbyn has again reached out, appointing to his top team MPs who held high rank under Tony Blair, MPs who resigned from the shadow cabinet in June and MPs whose politics have little in common with his. But with key positions held by allies, it is to be hoped the shadow cabinet presents a more unified front in Parliament and to the country than its pre-referendum predecessor did.

Corbyn is right to keep those who stayed loyal throughout the attempted mutiny in key positions. The performances of MPs such as Angela Rayner, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Barry Gardiner and others on the front bench have been superb. And we should pause for a moment to reflect on two inspired appointments in particular.

Few could have imagined that an uncompromising champion of human rights and personal freedoms such as Shami Chakrabarti could have been Labour’s justice spokeswoman in the days when it was the party of compulsory ID cards and detention without trial.

Her new role as shadow attorney general shows us how much the party has changed.

Labour has an opportunity to become a true voice for the voiceless, a party which fights, as it was founded to, for those without power and privilege in our society. And the elevation of Diane Abbott, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants and the first black woman ever to win a seat in the House of Commons, to shadow home secretary is an indication that Labour will fight tooth and nail against the revolting prejudice we saw on display at the Conservative Party conference.

Abbott and Chakrabarti are, like Corbyn himself and in common with many in his team, campaigners and activists with a wealth of real-world experience from outside Parliament. They know from direct experience that the struggle to change the world takes place on the streets and in the workplace rather than in the corridors of Westminster. And activists from around the country will be taking part in that struggle this weekend.

The Stop the War Coalition holds its 15th anniversary conference in London’s Great Russell Street. From its origins campaigning against the war in Afghanistan, through its high-point rallying of two million people in London to march against the invasion of Iraq and to its campaigns against conflict today, the coalition has played a vital role in bringing the reality of imperialism home.

It has been proved right again and again, with Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya all still embroiled in murderous warfare years on from their supposed liberation by Western bombs. With jihadists armed and funded by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other powers still battling for control of Syria, with Nato sabre-rattling on the borders of Russia and an increasingly dangerous game of brinkmanship being played on the China seas, our need to campaign against Britain’s never-ending involvement in foreign wars is greater than ever.

This weekend too sees the Stand Up to Racism conference in Euston. May’s Conservatives have redefined themselves post-Brexit and it’s looking ugly — with ministers talking of forcing companies to provide lists of foreign workers, railing at immigrants and slamming the door shut on refugees. 

The labour movement cannot underestimate the importance of the anti-racism struggle right now. Hate crimes are rising and Britain is on the brink.

We can take courage from this Sunday’s commemoration in Altab Ali park of our victory over Mosley’s Blackshirts on Cable Street 80 years ago.

We have beaten the racists and fascists before. We can beat them again. But no-one should doubt the scale of the mobilisation that is now required of us.