Monday, February 08, 2010
David Butler
David Cameron has promised that, if he wins, he will reduce the size of the House of Commons, probably by 10 per cent. Andrew Tyrie has set out the scheme in detail. It sounds like a sensible non-partisan idea. Britain has the largest parliament of any major democracy. We also suffer from the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1944 which, by its bad drafting, guarantees an increase in the number of English MPs whenever there is a general redistricting. read>
Monday, February 08, 2010
Rayhan Haque
With only months to go till the next election, all the major parties have been setting out their vision and ideas for the country. Late last year David Cameron delivered the Hugo Young lecture attempting to row back from his vitriolic anti-governmental conference speech and lay out his prospectus for Britain. But his speech was highly worrying as it demonstrated his flawed understanding of socioeconomic problems, and lacked any coherent analysis. read>
Monday, February 08, 2010
 Liz Kendall
I've got a bit of a confession. Whilst my head tells me climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face, my heart hasn't felt as passionate about the issue as giving every child the best shot at life, or transforming the way we look after older people. And although I kid myself I'm making an effort, I don't live anywhere near as green and environmentally-friendly a life as I should. read>
Monday, February 08, 2010
Paul Richards
The casual anti-Jewishness of most of British society, prevalent before the war, and found everywhere from the royal family to TS Eliot to George Orwell, has largely disappeared. Instead, like a virulent bacillus, hatred of Jews finds new hosts: amongst Islamist hate-mongers, the ultra-left and neo-fascists on the streets, and in the upper echelons of academia and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. read>
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Theo Blackwell
The Tories have fallen in love with Nudge theory. But while the veneer of Nudge works well with wonks and the chattering classes, the deeper story of Tory nudge policy in local government is more troubling. read>
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Kate Green
Every child death is a tragedy. And when a child dies violently, public outrage rightly follows: how can we have failed to protect the most vulnerable?
But new findings from researchers at the university of Bournemouth, showing that the number of violent deaths among children in England and Wales has fallen by almost 40 per cent since 1974, is something to welcome, even as we strive to learn from the cases that go horribly wrong. read>
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Michael Kenny and Guy Lodge
One of the most striking political developments of the last year has been the return of class to the forefront of British political debate. Current rows about whether Labour should pursue a ‘core vote' or ‘big tent' electoral strategy follow on from the abandonment of the party by many voters in its heartlands in the local and European elections of 2009, as well as continuing concern about the emergence of the BNP as the lightning conductor for the disaffection of some Labour voters. read>
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Lucy Gill
According to the Observer, Ed Miliband has declared war on the climate change sceptics. I go along with the science, but there are people in my family who don't. I like them and I like Ed Miliband. If they went to war, it would tear me apart. I'm not the only one in this predicament. I know quite a few people my age who fret about carbon footprints and the plight of the polar bear, but whose parents assure them it's just another Guardianista right-on-athon. The last poll I saw said that that only 41% of people accept that global warming is taking place and is largely man-made. read>
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Alan Whitehead
Last weekend's bizarre row over David Cameron's proposal to introduce prison ships "to ease Britain's overcrowded jails" revolved largely around who told what to whom and when, and whether Cameron just made the policy up on the spot without telling anyone else. What was missed in the brouhaha were two important points: firstly that a prison ship or two would not do much to ease prison overcrowding, but would simply accommodate a few more of Britain's spiralling prison population for a period; and secondly, that a policy that assumes exponential increases in prison numbers and then works out how to accommodate them is bound to fail in the end. read>
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Joining Progress today were Conor Ryan, Paul Richards and Hopi Sen. The discussion kicked off just after the end of PMQs and we asked who won, who was best backbencher, and who made the best joke or comment. And what are the implications for policy and the general election campaign? Jacqui Smith, Jamie Reed and Crispin Blunt win mentions for their contributions, while Cameron may just have pipped Brown thanks to a dash of mockery. read>
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Danny Stone
Jews have been back in the news this week, as Sir Martin Gilbert - distinguished historian and panel member of the Chilcot Iraq Inquiry - accused newspapers of publishing antisemitic allegations relating to his Jewish heritage and supposedly consequential pro-Israel bias. Sir Martin rightly asked whether articles would also focus on the religions, characteristics or ethnic backgrounds of the other members of the panel. Gilbert is right to be outspoken. Antisemitic discourse is but one manifestation of a wider problem. read>
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Pam Giddy
Gordon Brown announces support to change the electoral system - who'd have thought it! Long regarded as one of the strongest opponents of electoral reform in the Cabinet, this U-turn must be seen in the context of historically low levels of trust in politicians and our democratic institutions. It is politically a clever(ish) move. He can claim to have finally broken the taboo over reform of the electoral system and say that he wants no MP to be returned to Westminster without the positive endorsement of a majority of voters. read>
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Steve Cockburn
The Labour Campaign for International Development officially launched this week, aiming to be a "cross between a cheerleader and watchdog" or even "a socialist Anne Robinson with pom-poms". read>
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Mary Southcott, Jess Asato, Martin Linton, Guy Lodge, Kenneth O Morgan, Chris Leslie and Pam Giddy react to Brown's speech today in which he backed a referendum on the Alternative Vote and promised to set up a constitutional committee to examine possibilities for a written constitution by 2015, 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. read>
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Gordon Brown today outlined his plans for reform of the voting system, central to which is to legislate for a referendum on the Alternative Vote in 2011. He also plans to introduce changes to the way parliament works, including allowing parties to nominate select committee members, and parliament to choose select committee chairs. read>
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