Defence Cuts It is impossible to organise a defence policy independent of a foreign policy. Therefore, although the Treasury holds the purse strings, the Foreign Office has the plan. Next week we can expect to hear from William Hague a difinitive explanation of what the plan is. If it involves the global projection of military […]
Iraq War Ed Milliband was right to declare the Iraq war wrong. Politicians are deaf to the universal clamour against this adventure, which will be made even shriller when Chilcot is published. It will not be possible for any political leader to win an election in the future without first repudiating this ill fated, ill […]
David Milliband David has behaved with grace a dignity in defeat. He joins a long line of political heirs who failed to inherit. Halifax, Butler, Maudling, Healey, Heseltine, Clarke, Portillo. Sometimes history tells us party members or earlier kingmakers were right, sometimes not. We shall have to wait a while for the verdict between Ed […]
IMF Approval The Coalition will feel chuffed with this endorsement from the IMF. It is certainly the case that the IMF is interested in financial outcomes, rather than social ones, so that it may underplay the human consequence of a financil plan. Nevertheless this is good for the Conservatives and their Lib Dem partners and […]
Core Voters The Labour Party is now busy rallying behind its new leader and will spend a good deal of thought and energy working out the best way forward, not just to challenging opposition, but to power at the earliest opportunity. It is too soon to tell whether that could be months, years or decades […]
Sunday Politics Hardly has the man been elected or the news filtered beyond the Westminster political spectrum and the media is full of analysis of whether Ed Milliband is red or pink or this or that. We are in the age of instant politics and very bad politics they are. They are fun to watch […]
Ed Wins This result is good for Labour. This Blog, once again, anticipated the political tide (post Sept 17). For far too long the Left has been represented by the Centre, gullible, bureaucratic and hijacked by spin. Ordinary people have been without a voice or a champion. Above all they have been without a progressive […]
Gay Bishops The Archbishop of Canterbury has declared that gay bishops are acceptable to him as long as they are celibate. This is like saying vegetarians are fine as long as they do not eat vegetables. Celibacy has all but brought the Catholic Church to its knees and certainly damaged its image. It is unhealthy, […]
Cutting the Quangos Leaks that these peculiar public bodies are being lined up for the chop is very good news. However it is not just a matter of reducing and amalgamating. This whole structure provides very bad and expensive government and is fundamentally undemocratic. Whenever interviewed, the head boy or girl of each puts up a […]
The Police The latest report from the CIC highlights public disquiet on police performance in regard to anti-social behavior. He suggests police in many areas have withdrawn from the streets. Senior police officers have been quick to defend their record, pointing out the many and diverse nature of their duties ranging from terrism and organised […]