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Disaffection, disinterestedness? Labour must mobilise
The ungainly scramble of Labour MPs past and present to the new outposts of political power offered by city mayors and police commissioners, has impressed very few onlookers of late. This rush for influence is crucial to the party’s future prospects, but Labour must go much further. Bradford West was a one-off result in many ways, but the significance of defeat there has not escaped Ed Miliband. Not just Labour, but all the major political parties have lost a great deal of support in recent years. Read the rest of this entry
Housing, the welfare state and the new politics of virtue
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The 2011 Labour party conference may be best remembered as a turning point, when Ed Miliband began to assert his radical version of Britain’s future. Many commentators have already fixated on the phrase “not anti-business, anti business-as-usual.” In contrast, Miliband’s reiteration of Labour’s plans to marry eligibility for social housing to individuals’ contributions to society, has been overlooked as a smart tactical move, or misinterpreted as an attack on the working class. In truth, the essence of Miliband’s radical vision, and his support for working and middle class people, is rendered most vivid when analysing this particular policy. click here to keep reading
Local Government and Localism
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Local Government is one of the most resilient and flexible features of our democratic model. It exists in a fully functioning form in places as disparate as Devon and Lewisham. Despite the great criticism that local government often has to endure from ministers over inefficiency and poor practice, the expectation that severe cuts to funding can go hand in hand with a steady or improved quality of service is more realistic for local government than any other sector. click here to keep reading
The country is in crisis, so why have the Lib Dems gone quiet?
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“Cleggmania sweeps Britain, Liberal Democrats surge in polls.” Headlines of this sort became commonplace during the general election campaign last year, and in May, Nick Clegg’s Party became the effective power brokers as the electorate returned a hung parliament. We all remember the scenes of David and Nick’s playful banter in the gardens of number 10 Downing Street as they announced the formation of the first Lib Dem – Con coalition in British history, a surprisingly easy consensus that gradually gave way to vicious debates over AV and the NHS. Click here to keep reading
Leadership, the economy and 2015
Oct 19
Posted by nmbellio
David Cameron talks about leadership but he does not show any. When given the opportunity to outline how his government will combat a potential recession, outrageous levels of unemployment and severe housing shortages, Cameron fails to deliver. When asked what his government has done to support jobs, the Prime Minister touts policies that have failed. When pressed on the failure of his government to create growth, he blames Labour. This is not the embodiment of leadership but an abdication of leadership.
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Posted in Coalition Government, Comment, Labour Party, Looking Forward, Party Politics
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Tags: david cameron, Ed miliband