Scotland, intrigue and laying ghosts to rest. Surely the only thingsmissing from this story were the witches and Lady Macbeth. Two weeks ago, in all of the excitement of Ed Miliband’s surprisingly successful bid to reform Labour party power structures, a parallel development was almost buried in the bigger story, apart from at the Guardian,… Continue reading Falkirk: an epilogue
Month: February 2014
Venezuela on the edge
Since a student protest on Thursday ended in violence (from a reportedly small group after the main, peaceful demonstration had dispersed), Venezuela is looking even worse than usual. On Friday, Twitter users were reportedly having online images blocked by the government, presumably to avoid photo evidence of brutality being transmitted via mobile phones. My friends at Harry’s Place also document… Continue reading Venezuela on the edge
If party reform goes through as advertised, it is a major triumph. But it ain’t over till it’s over
It has been a rollercoaster couple of weeks for Labour. It started with Miliband’s ideas on how to change competition in banking, and ran through Balls’ announcement on fiscal probity, of which the only story newspapers wanted to print was about the retention of the 50p tax rate. Indeed, the economic story that they tell… Continue reading If party reform goes through as advertised, it is a major triumph. But it ain’t over till it’s over
After Sochi
It would be hilarious, if not for a certain sense of foreboding, that Viktor Yanukovych, in a certain crunch moment of the history of his country, has called in sick with a respiratory infection. Gosh, it’s as if he were playing for time in some way. As the NYT notes, it is an old trick from Soviet… Continue reading After Sochi