A bit of late news: a couple of weeks ago the Centre Left reported that 1.5 million Catalans had decided to march for independence, in a region/nation (what you call it ususally depends on your politics) which contains 7.5 million. I said it could mean that a rethink of my view on Scotland – that… Continue reading Scottish independence – still looking like a no
Month: September 2012
Britain’s unions can be relevant again, but not by espousing fringe politics
As Peter Watt pointed out at the time of the TUC conference, its influence is declining for a number of reasons: the concentration of power in the hands of the leaders of three super-unions, declining membership in general and a political shift to the left. Together, this seems to have led to a focus on… Continue reading Britain’s unions can be relevant again, but not by espousing fringe politics
Respect: the case against allowing extremists into the Labour party
Last week there was much speculation about whether or not Salma Yaqoob, the former leader of Respect who understandably resigned rather than share a party with George Galloway, might join the Labour Party, should she so desire. Indeed, local Labour MP Richard Burden on Thursday extended the hand of friendship, saying she would “be an… Continue reading Respect: the case against allowing extremists into the Labour party
UK Unionists: don’t take your eye off the ball
Just to note that 1.5 MILLION people today demonstrated in Barcelona for Catalan independence. I have written before how I don’t think that either that or Scottish independence will happen any time soon, and continue to do so. But if they keep this up, I may have to revise my opinion. 1.5 million, is, I reckon,… Continue reading UK Unionists: don’t take your eye off the ball
Eight reasons why Labour should think twice about predistribution
Like many, I read Ed Miliband’s New Statesman interview with interest. Some parts of it pleased me greatly, like the seeming acceptance of not having money to spend. And the corollary to that, which is that we could not redistribute wealth which, well, we didn’t have. A sigh of relief was breathed, and I thought,… Continue reading Eight reasons why Labour should think twice about predistribution
Aspirational Britain lies waiting to be claimed
Who’d be David Cameron right now? Mired in political treacle, this week he is trying to divert attention away from his problems with a reshuffle, and wrest back the initiative by lots of serious-sounding pronouncements about economic growth which is proving highly elusive. The public doesn’t seem to be very impressed by him or his… Continue reading Aspirational Britain lies waiting to be claimed