Last night Nick Clegg gave the annual Hugo Young lecture at the Guardian offices, and in doing so set out his vision of a just society. In his speech – a version of which was published on Comment is Free – he sought to present the Liberal Democrats as the “new progressives”, in contrast to [...]
No one expected Nick Clegg to bring his long (but apparently flimsily) held desire to abolish tuition fees into the coalition agreement. Even before the election, he had already distanced himself from the policy. “I want to get rid of the tuition fees system too – it’s just a question of when,” Clegg told me [...]
Vince Cable yesterday reiterated the government’s message that the deficit can only be reduced by drastic cuts in spending – except when it comes to big shiny exciting stuff that makes other stuff go boom. ‘It’s just like I said in June’ the Business Secretary explained. ‘We’ve moved on from the era of subsidies, and [...]
I know that the next few years will be tough, very tough for some, but I also believe that the changes we make – empowering you, trusting you, listening to you – will make the public services a more rewarding place to work. I know there are a minority in the trade unions who will [...]
There is a lot that is cruddy about our democracy, from the piss-stained benches of the House of Lords to our absurd system of voting. Yet many would agree that the tradition of Prime Minister’s Questions is something to be proud of. The weekly opportunity for our elected representatives to hold the government to account, [...]
The Coalition’s plans to overhaul the NHS are idiotic, but they are also the culmination of a decade of stupid thinking about the National Health Service. The Conservatives plan to get rid of all 10 strategic health authorities and the 152 management bodies known as primary care trusts. In their place, GPs will be asked [...]
Like most readers of this blog, the Budget made me pretty angry – the VAT increase and tighter controls on benefits combined with the cut in corporation tax make a complete mockery of the claims that this Budget was ‘progressive’ in any sense, and millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people in this country [...]
David Laws shouldn’t resign for being gay or renting a flat. These are perfectly fine, normal things to do and be. People need to rent flats, and people often have lovers. To rent a flat off a lover isn’t that strange either. It’s quite sensible in some ways. Having a lover, of any gender, isn’t [...]
A little more from me this week on the hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats. I should point out that I have nothing in particular against the party. Policy-wise, they are better than Labour and the Tories. Not least in their long-running campaign for Proportional Representation, something which is absolutely essential to make Britain’s political system [...]
Well, it happened. Not quite as anyone had been expecting, but it happened. The moment we’ve dreaded for the last three years. David Cameron is the new Prime Minister. I can’t say I will be sorry to see Brown go. I can’t say New Labour didn’t deserve to lose this election. I can say I [...]
