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	<title>Left Futures</title>
	<link>http://www.leftfutures.org</link>
	<description>Forward thinking for the democratic left</description>
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		<title>David Miliband’s right about a debate, but it can&#8217;t ignore the big issues</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There is much to welcome in David Miliband’s call for a ‘comradely and serious debate’ about the future for the Labour Party, as prompted by Roy Hattersley’s recent article in the Political Quarterly on social democracy. He is certainly right about the spirit in which the debate should take place, but this initial foray will [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/david-miliband%e2%80%99s-right-about-a-debate-but-it-cant-ignore-the-big-issues/</link>
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		<title>Who will police the police?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s not just the well-reported antics of Mark Kennedy that call in question the activities of undercover policing against political and protest groups. It’s the almost total lack of accountability about the clandestine operations of police spies over the last 40 years. The HMIC report on this episode draws attention to Kennedy’s failure to “follow [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/who-will-police-the-police/</link>
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		<title>What David Miliband’s intervention really means</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Those of us who have suggested David Miliband’s latest political intervention may have – let’s say – ulterior motives have received a bit of flak. Must he stay silent just because any public pronouncement may be misconstrued by the media? Why can’t he contribute to the debate about the party’s future like anyone else? The problem [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/what-david-miliband%e2%80%99s-intervention-really-means/</link>
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		<title>What would a Leanne Wood victory mean for Labour</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Leanne Wood’s campaign to become leader of Plaid goes from strength to strength, now gaining the endorsement of Dafydd Iwan, former president of the party, and a renowned Welsh-language musician. Iwan’s support is significant as it bridges the gap between the traditionalist Welsh speaking foundations of Plaid’s support in the West and North of the country with the left-wing republicanism [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/what-would-a-leanne-wood-victory-mean-for-labour/</link>
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		<title>When the Ku Klux Klan came for Fred Goodwin. Or not.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I must admit that I did not immediately grasp the obvious parallels between the decision to strip a banker of his knighthood and the brutal murder of hundreds of American blacks at the hands of a mass white supremacist paramilitary organisation. So I am thankful to Lord Digby Jones, a man who served as trade [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/when-the-ku-klux-klan-came-for-fred-goodwin-or-not/</link>
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		<title>Socialism: it’s nothing personal</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I’m almost feeling sorry for Fred the Shred. ‘Humbling of Mister Godwin’, mocked the Daily Mail; ‘Goodwin is shredded’ (geddit?) bellowed the Daily Telegraph; ‘Once A Knight Fred’, echoed the Sun, a newspaper always keen to win the most imaginative pun stakes. It’s more than tempting for the left to jump on this populist bandwagon. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/socialism-it%e2%80%99s-nothing-personal/</link>
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		<title>Kid gloves for the Banks and throw the poor on the street?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Businesses need funding fast, so why doesn’t Osborne just order RBS and Lloyds to ratchet up the lending? After all, he controls 80% of the former and 40% of the latter, more than those who talked about seizing the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy ever dreamed of. Why instead does he go cap in hand [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/kid-gloves-for-the-banks-and-throw-the-poor-on-the-street/</link>
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		<title>When it comes to social justice, trade unions are the only show in town</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Workers at Primark in Northern Ireland have voted overwhelmingly for strike action after the company attempted to impose a pay freeze on its shop staff for the second consecutive year. Primark’s staff are paid just £6.84 an hour, yet in the past two years the company has seen its profits soar to an estimated £644 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/when-it-comes-to-social-justice-trade-unions-are-the-only-show-in-town/</link>
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		<title>As Hester still gets £6m bonuses, the utterly destitute lose Social Fund</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There are two different universes at Westminster, completely disconnected. One is about Hester who has sacked thousands and still presides over RBS languishing at a share price only half of what taxpayers paid for in the bailout, but who has already on top of his £550,000 salary (£10,575 a week) gained £11m in bonuses and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/as-hester-still-gets-6m-bonuses-the-utterly-destitute-lose-social-fund/</link>
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		<title>We’re all economists now (part three)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Parts One and Two appeared earlier this week. Once in office, the coalition has decided to run roughshod over the economic reality. For the last 21 months or so they have pursued a series of tough austerity measures: aggressive cuts combined with huge reductions in public spending, believing that this is the only way to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/02/we%e2%80%99re-all-economists-now-part-three/</link>
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