How and when not to reform the House of Lords
The government’s Bill to reform the House of Lords and the majority report on it by a parliamentary Joint Committee are as full of holes as a cheese grater, and they grate equally painfully. ...
Category: Politics
London mayoral election: even if you like Ms Benita, vote 1. Ken to beat Boris (with two updates, 10 April)
The election for London mayor is a dismal affair. It seems inevitable that either Boris Johnson (Conservative incumbent) or Ken Livingstone (his Labour predecessor) will win, but neither is an attractive candidate, both carry...
Antisocial behaviour as Labour’s main priority? Blairism lives!
The Labour leadership has made a regrettable mistake in seeking to put the problem of antisocial behaviour at the top of the party’s list of priorities, however large it might and does loom in...
Cash for access: shocking, but all parties are funded by selling influence
There is solid justification for about 50% of the indignation aroused by the exposure of the attempt by the then Treasurer of the Conservative party to sell access to David Cameron (and, more seductively,...
Abu Qatada: what Yvette Cooper should be saying, but isn’t
The European Court of Human Rights is preventing Britain from deporting the radical Moslem preacher, Abu Qatada, to his native Jordan on the grounds that he would not get a fair trial there if,...
On the fate of prisoners now indefinitely incarcerated as IPPs
A government Bill, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (‘LASPO’), now going through parliament aims to replace the infamous system of Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection or IPPs, a legacy of...
More on Scotland and devo max
I propose the following basic elements in a new constructive policy on Scotland for the Labour Party: 1. Scottish independence, just as much as devo max, will (or would) require the collaboration of the...
The Scottish Question: bad journalism and now some good
In the last few days I have posted a couple of pieces about the Scottish Question (here and here), most recently quoting a prize example of sub-standard journalism in a Sunday Times article purporting...
A postscript on Scotland – now with update 17 January 2012
While we are on the subject of the Scottish referendum, I should announce the result of the competition for the most obtuse, confused and misleading contribution to the analysis of the possible consequences of...
January notes on things
Unless one is a fanatical Scot, it’s impossible to read the whole torrent of comments on the new-found Scottish Question, so selection is unavoidable. Actually, it’s only necessary to read one blog post and...