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?
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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
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.
This short conflict has shone a light in Labour’s dark corners
The attacks on both sides have ceased in Gaza and southern Israel and the death tolls have ceased to mount – a sure-fire way to get the issue off the news bulletins again – and an uneasy ceasefire holds. For now. But, during those eight days, the focus of popular attention briefly fell on what… Continue reading This short conflict has shone a light in Labour’s dark corners
Me, Galloway and the appreciation of irony
Imagine my surprise when, after my debut piece at the Independent on Thursday, a critique of the Respect Party, yesterday appeared a rebuttal-cum-personal-attack on me from none other than the Honourable (that’s his official title) George Galloway MP. I suppose I should find it flattering, that a British Member of Parliament should take time out… Continue reading Me, Galloway and the appreciation of irony
Respect: is anyone still listening?
Delighted to announce the publication of my first-ever piece for the Independent’s online comment section, Independent Voices, here. It’s about the lovely George Galloway and the Respect Party, a misnomer if ever there was one.
Julia Gillard. You rock.
Ok, I know many of you have probably seen it, but just in case…surely one of the best parliamentary speeches of recent years. Perhaps not a naturally gifted speaker, but with the passion of righteous rage, the Australian Labor Prime Minister brilliantly takes down the obnoxious Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, with a deadly… Continue reading Julia Gillard. You rock.