What is the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill, and why is it a problem for Keir Starmer?

Boris Johnson seems to be trying to tempt Labour into opposing laws that the government says are needed for national security, writes John Rentoul

Keir Starmer has to decide how Labour should vote on the spy powers bill next week (Getty)

Keir Starmer has “done more to smash the left in six months than Neil Kinnock did in six years”, one observer of internal Labour Party politics told me – and he’s been able to do it “because there are no meetings”. The coronavirus crisis means no meetings of local parties, and no physical gathering for annual party conference. 

That means that, every time the Labour leader makes a decision that upsets Momentum, the faction set up by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, the response is muted. 

The one place where resistance continues to be vocal and visible, however, is the House of Commons, where Labour MPs belonging to the Socialist Campaign Group speak out against the leader and defy his instructions about how to vote.