Yes, Tony Blair was wrong. The bolstering of faith schools and the consequent upsetting of the delicate existing balance between them and society at large, I wrote in 2011, was always a rather suspect idea: not because religious people have not the right to educate their children as they like – they do, up to… Continue reading Why is the government letting faith schools interfere in the personal lives of their staff?
Author: robert.marchant
Labour needs to stop being a prisoner of Ed Balls’ past
The Centre Left has been on a brief hiatus (even I get to go on holiday every now and then), but I thought I’d get back into the swing of things by posting my third piece for the Independent, which went out last week. Hope you like it.I didn’t choose their title, by the way…!
The polling facts about Labour’s mid-term lead
Much has been made during 2012 of Labour’s solid poll lead, which has been of the order of 10% ever since the government’s disastrous Budget. For some it seems difficult to refrain from mentally converting this into a line on Peter Snow’s election night model of the House of Commons, showing a majority for Labour.… Continue reading The polling facts about Labour’s mid-term lead
2013: in Labour’s do-or-die year, it’s the strategy of hope versus the strategy of hopeful
The audacity of hope: it worked for Obama in 2008, and it is an important quality for an opposition to bring to the table, as Ed Miliband did in his New Year’s message last Friday. It is fairly clear that at this point the Coalition is bringing very little credible hope to the Great British… Continue reading 2013: in Labour’s do-or-die year, it’s the strategy of hope versus the strategy of hopeful
The best of 2012
As is traditional at this time of year (well, we did it last year and thought, what the hey), the top five best-read posts from the year at the Centre Left: 5. Diane Abbott and her odd generalisations Even before her now-notorious tweet asserting that “white people love to play divide and rule”, her disturbing views… Continue reading The best of 2012
A Labour Christmas carol
It was Christmas eve, 2012, and Ebenezer Miliband lay in his bed, thinking of how his little hardware shop was faring in the middle of this perniciously cold winter. Business had been difficult, and here was a man generous to a fault. Perhaps too generous, some said. Debt was high everywhere in London that year,… Continue reading A Labour Christmas carol
Stop the War Coalition’s comments about Newtown reveal a burning hatred of America
After the indescribable horror of the fourth mass shooting this year in the US, the world’s media and commentators have been pretty much united in their sympathy for victims and urging of the American government to push for change. United, that is, aside from one UK protest movement. Yesterday a friend pointed out Stop the… Continue reading Stop the War Coalition’s comments about Newtown reveal a burning hatred of America
Osborne lays the trap. Enter Labour, not walking but running
The weekend before last, I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the classic kids’ film of my own childhood, with my five year-old for the first time. When the famous “child catcher” scene came on, and the children were being tempted into the evil Kiddy Catcher’s van with sweets and lollipops, it ended with genuine, heartfelt… Continue reading Osborne lays the trap. Enter Labour, not walking but running
We might as well get used to the Royals – they’re not going anywhere, any time soon
If you’ve been living on the moon for the last four days, you may just not know about the royal baby. The news has predictably sand-blasted UK news schedules and obscured the traditional staples of murders, celebs and, quite possibly, a third World War (I didn’t catch the later bulletins). And, at these times, we… Continue reading We might as well get used to the Royals – they’re not going anywhere, any time soon
Three lessons for Labour to avoid learning from Rotherham
My second piece for the Independent is here.