Cross-posted from Left Outside I don’t think Labour really know that the game has changed. We will have an election in 2015 and there is very little chance of one before that. The move to fixed term parliaments means that Ed Miliband et al find themselves in a totally different position to someone like Cameron [...]
Fancy living on 62p a day? Thousands of families are going to have to do exactly that if the government’s Welfare Reform Bill becomes law, and the benefit cap comes in. Never mind the 100,000 children who’ll fall below the poverty line, or the projected 20,000 people who’ll be made homeless by it. Never mind [...]
This is a guest post by Matt Mahon Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe of the Met – played excellently on Monday by Iain Glen, fresh from the set of HBO’s Game of Thrones – was supposed to explain his ‘total policing’ policy at LSE on Monday. In fact, he flannelled for half an hour about the challenges [...]
Paul Kenny is right. The Tories will be rubbing their hands with glee at the current spat between Labour and the unions. But they won’t be doing so simply because Ed Balls’ now-notorious speech to the Fabian Conference is a sign that Labour support the government’s cuts agenda – while neither the speech itself nor [...]
This is an open letter to Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Bernard Hogan-Howe. We invite a response, which, if received, we will publish in full. Dear Mr Hogan-Howe, I attended your talk at the London School of Economics last night. Amidst the management-speak and froth, a single statistic that you mentioned caught my attention. “Young [...]
The Coalition partners are at each others throats again. And, as always, there is no need for you to get up from your seat. This time it’s the royal yacht. Cameron and co. believe that the queen should get a new yacht for her diamond Jubilee. Clegg meanwhile, has made headlines by saying that she [...]
So today brings news that former Labour Party official Luke Bozier is defecting to the Conservatives. Many people will be asking “Who the hell is Luke Bozier?”. Those who know of him may ask “Why did he defect?”. Meanwhile, those who’ve read his remarks about joining the Tories will be asking “On what planet does [...]
So Michael Gove wants to make it easier to kick bad teachers out of the profession. In particular he wants those teachers “who can’t keep control or keep the interest of their class” to be moved rapidly into the “firing line”. As with every single other profession – public or private – there is undoubtedly [...]
So the stand off continues. Cameron et. al. are determined that any Scottish referendum should be a straight choice between independence and the status quo. Alex Salmond meanwhile, plans to give voters a third choice. The so-called “devo-max” option, would give the Scots autonomy on virtually every matter other than foreign policy and defence. Salmond [...]
It took a long time for me to start taking a proper interest in the now- looming prospect of Scottish independence. This was partly due to my vaguely assuming that just because there aren’t likely to be border raids between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway or a Berlin Wall-style division of Berwick-upon-Tweed it wouldn’t actually [...]
