Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems and Tuition Fees The Deputy Prime Minister, together with his Lib Dem colleagues in the Coalition are in some difficulty over tuition fees. They all signed a pledge. Now they have to make excuses why they have to renege on the pledge. Not just an off the cuff pledge; one […]
Hillary Clinton and Wikileaks It is understandable that the U.S. Secretary of State, one of the most respected politicians on the world stage, expressed outrage over the potential damage of the mass leaking of confidential, rather than secret, material. Nevertheless this Blog remains of the view that this is a sign of the times and […]
Iran and North Korea Many will be surprised by the Wikileak disclosure that Arab leaders, namely those of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt would like America to bomb Iran. These are Sunni Arabs who previously regarded Iraq as a bulwark against Shia domination. The outcome of the negotiations to end the impasse in Iraq has produced a […]
Wikileaks This is more profound than politicians and diplomats realise. It is also a very good thing. The information revolution requires that those in authority keep those who put them there truthfully informed about what is really going on. The age of suppressed democracy, when people were influenced by a perception of events which would have […]
More Worrying Figures and a Challenge for Labour. This Blog, as regular readers know, approaches economics in a more fundamentalist way than many sophisticated commentators and economists, who in their wisdom, pass the understanding of ordinary people. Thus there is a culture which says ‘I am not an economist, so I will leave it to them’. […]
The Squeezed Middle No wonder there is confusion as to what it means, because it is nonsense. Ed Milliband knows that. It was a quick soundbite. It has no substance. Everybody feels squeezed. If we go back to the founding of the modern welfare state after WWII by the Attlee government and the introduction of […]
Ed Milliband and Labour Ed Milliband is right when he says New Labour lost its way and it is time to move on. This is important because a vibrant democracy needs an effective party operating left of centre. The trouble is that nobody seems to be sure where left actually is. It is where it […]
Euro Slide As Ireland grapples with a political crisis as well as what is currently a banking crisis with a vengeance, triggering a request for Euro aid, the currency slide goes on and the pressure on Spain and Portugal mounts. There is a touch of gloating in Britain, especially on the Right, that we are […]
Vince Cable in Russia This Blog has always seen Russia in a better light than the moribund foreign policy of New Labour. Yes the Russian ideas of democracy and ours are not the same. Yes, there were atrocities under the Soviets and cruelties under the Tsars. Yes, there are historic difficulties about the bizarre murder of the Russian […]
University Fees and Education Reform. These two issues, though separate, are together. Universities have to charge for their services, whether the student, the taxpayer or a combination. Up until New Labour the taxpayer paid all of it. Then through the unpopular student loans, some of the burden fell to the students. Now a much bigger […]