Archive for Op-eds
Why I (still) read the Daily Mail
Four years on, I’m still a Daily Mail reader (even if they think I’m a foreigner). Here’s an updated explanation. I once rang the Daily Mail to mildly complain about a story I had a connection with. The journalist I spoke to put me on hold while he conferred with a colleague. At least, he thought he [...]
The other issue Lib Dem peers can win on tomorrow
Moves in the House of Lords to amend the health and welfare bills have been getting the lion’s share of recent coverage, but this week sees a quartet of Liberal Democrat peers leading the charge on a different topic – the Legal Aid Bill. Lib Dem Lords Thomas, Carlile, Clement Jones and Phillips have a [...]
Local liberal heroes: Alexi Sugden
Earlier in the year, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten – such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP. There is also [...]
The trade unions could be doing Ed Miliband – and all of us – a favour
No doubt, both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, joined by a select band of Blairite survivors, would be rather chipper if the trade union chiefs currently making threatening noises about cutting Labour Party funding turn out to really mean it. But the real benefit could be much wider: if Labour loses a large chunk of its [...]
Learning lessons from the US elections: four legal differences you need to know
Many of the differences between American and British election campaigns are not the result of American campaigners having good ideas the British should copy, but rather are the result of four key legal differences between the two countries.
Wanted: a new form of capitalism
Look through the grand sweep of history and times of severe economic turmoil have often been accompanied by times of ideological ferment. That ferment has often thrown up the extreme and the nasty – think fascism or Communist dictatorship – which makes the absence of an equivalent post-financial crash ferment not wholly a bad thing. [...]
The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2012: recap
To mark the start of 2012, last week we ran a series of posts on the main challenges for the Liberal Democrats in 2012. Here in one handy recap is the full list: The Budget May’s elections Treating supporters as active participants Wealth taxation Communicative ministers A coherent narrative And don’t forget the four priorities [...]
The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2012: A coherent narrative
To mark the start of 2012, we’re running a series of posts over consecutive days on the main challenges for the Liberal Democrats in 2012. I’ve already written about the four priorities for the party’s new Chief Executive, Tim Gordon, but as the Liberal Democrats are more than just the one man whilst he has [...]
The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2012: Communicative ministers
To mark the start of 2012, we’re running a series of posts over consecutive days on the main challenges for the Liberal Democrats in 2012. I’ve already written about the four priorities for the party’s new Chief Executive, Tim Gordon, but as the Liberal Democrats are more than just the one man whilst he has [...]
The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2012: Wealth taxation
To mark the start of 2012, we’re running a series of posts over consecutive days on the main challenges for the Liberal Democrats in 2012. I’ve already written about the four priorities for the party’s new Chief Executive, Tim Gordon, but as the Liberal Democrats are more than just the one man whilst he has [...]
