“Social cohesion” must be one of the most overused phrases in British political language. From terrorism to anti-social behaviour, the proposed solution always involves initiatives that promise to improve cohesion within communities. However, if that’s made you sceptical about the whole idea, watch this video (via Nick at the Podnosh blog) to renew your enthusiasm:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TuosrFkNhQ]
It’s [...]
Filed under: localism, socialcohesion, ukpolitics on March 30th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday’s ‘Gonzo-meter’ was pointing squarely at a 82.5435% chance of departure, up 2.5% from Tuesday, and yet Gonzales is still hanging on. The ultra-conservative National Review says “Alberto Gonzales should resign”, and yet he plods on resolutely, head stuck firmly in the sand, convinced that one day he’ll wake up and discover the country’s finally [...]
Filed under: iraq, uspolitics on March 29th, 2007 | No Comments »
The press is struggling slightly over the Iranian ‘rendition’ story at the moment - it can’t quite keep hold of front page news. Outrage and indignation abound from most corners, along with ‘breaking news’ headlines whenever Blair opens his mouth. But I fear the gravity of the situation hasn’t achieved widespread recognition yet.
Background first of [...]
Filed under: foreignpolicy, iran on March 27th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
In recent posts I’ve been sceptical about an anyone-but-Gordon succession for Labour after Blair. However, this book review by David Miliband on Anthony Gidden’s new book is well worth reading.
I’m very impressed by Miliband’s diagnosis of New Labour’s failings. My concern about Miliband has been that I couldn’t see what he had to offer [...]
Filed under: davidcameron, davidmiliband, gordonbrown, labour, ukpolitics on March 26th, 2007 | No Comments »
Wednesday’s Budget represented a fascinating test case for media feeling about Gordon Brown. The Chancellor’s plans could quite plausibly be represented in a range of very different ways. The Telegraph, the Mail and the Express predictably spoke of a “tax con” and relished the excuse to savage Brown for both his record and his personality. [...]
Filed under: gordonbrown, labour, ukpolitics on March 23rd, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Given the vapid nature of much television, the recent Adam Curtis triptych on BBC2 Sunday evenings 9p.m, on socio-political thought has been exceptional. A review can be found here
To summarise briefly for those who haven’t seen it (there is still one more episode this Sunday night,) Adam Curtis looks at the macro-shifts across the [...]
Filed under: freespeech, identity, society, ukpolitics on March 22nd, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Since my family almost single-handedly support Apple, any reference to the legendary 1984 advert made by Ridley Scott was going to catch my eye. Doubtless everyone reading this will have seen the already-infamous YouTube ‘mash-up’ of said advert, this time with a political message – the jarring ‘Vote Different’ (and this is the point where [...]
Filed under: barackobama, election2008, hillaryclinton, uspolitics on March 21st, 2007 | 1 Comment »
There has been an interesting discussion on several blogs recently about The Economist magazine and its reputation. The posts are well worth reading, but one line in particular caught my eye:
The other ugly English trait promoting The Economist’s success in America is the Oxford Union argumentative style. At its epitome, it involves a stance so [...]
Filed under: blogging, ukpolitics on March 19th, 2007 | 18 Comments »
The Independent on Sunday ran with this article leading, at least in the rural village where I obtained a copy. If you can’t be bothered to read it all (and I don’t blame you) it is an apology for a cannabis legalisation campaign that the Independent ran in the 1990s, which retracts the earlier position, [...]
Filed under: crime, davidcameron, health on March 19th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Sadly we have no video of James Bartholomew’s talk from Tuesday, but nonetheless, I feel that a response to his talk- possibly the most controversial talk that Clare Politics has run so far- is in order.
To summarise Bartholomew, as I understood it:
- the welfare state has failed, and failed the poor more than anybody else
- [...]
Filed under: conservatism, history, poverty, society, ukpolitics on March 16th, 2007 | 7 Comments »
