Ed Miliband is constantly under-estimated. He is not as charismatic as Blair, but he is principled in a way that Blair was not, and in politics that is priceless. He is also brave while Blair was not. Blair opted to define himself by taking on his own party and by deferentially siding with those with [...]
Posts Tagged ‘David Cameron’
Cameron has got it wrong on the Algerian massacre
Jan 22nd, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Cameron’s denunciation of the Algerian In Amenas gas plant terrorist attack as a “large and existential threat…which is global and will require a global response that will last decades” totally misunderstands, or totally misportrays, what has happened. It is not an existential threat, though the 3,000-strong jihadist group in Syria and Islamic militancy in Yemen [...]
Leveson: Cameron’s betrayal is not the end of the story
Dec 1st, 2012 by Michael Meacher.Prepare for weeks of vilification of Leveson and the lampooning of his position as the voice of censorship. We are already seeing that when it comes to the struggle for power and the capacity for dominance over the State and its ideology, the methods are ruthless, the lies are vicious, the cries of the victims [...]
Boundary changes for devo max: the Tory-SNP deal that may reshape the UK
Nov 28th, 2012 by Mark Seddon.For all of the miscalculations and cock-ups of the past two-and-a-half years, the Tory party, and David Cameron in particular, are as strategically focused as ever on winning power and holding on to it. Few will be surprised to learn, then, that Cameron is still determined to force through parliamentary boundary changes next year that [...]
Lessons from Obama’s victory
Nov 9th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.It’s not simply that Obama won, nor even that he won by a far larger margin than the media (ever eager to exaggerate electoral uncertainty to increase newspaper sales) had predicted. It’s the small print of the election which is so interesting. Social liberalism prevailed over hardline conservatism. Bookmarks Hide Sites
The left are more realistic about the working class vote than some think
Oct 30th, 2012 by Carl Packman.Since the publication of Progress’ Class edition, and the polling that has been done through YouGov, there seems to be some confusion about how the left perceive the voting behaviour of working class people in Britain. Reading Luke Akehurst’s fair piece on LabourList, aside from the harsh reality-check that working class voters in this country [...]
‘The worst of recession is over’? That will come back to haunt Cameron
Oct 27th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.Where did we hear it before? ‘I detect the green shoots of growth’ (Norman Lamont as the economy plunged again) and ‘We’ve ended boom and bust’ (Gordon Brown just before the biggest financial crash for a century). Equally Cameron’s ‘worst of the recession is over’ is a foolish hostage to fortune which he will come [...]
Housing benefit: the scandal and the myth
Oct 16th, 2012 by Richard Johnson.George Osborne and David Cameron’s call to end housing benefit for people under the age of 25 is the latest move in a government so right wing that it would make Margaret Thatcher blush. In an interview with James Naughtie on Radio 4’s Today programme this week, David Cameron set out to explain why he [...]
A shuffle to the right
Sep 5th, 2012 by Darrell Goodliffe.Today, politics came back with a bang. David Cameron unveiled his first significant reshuffle since taking power after a weekend of damp squib policy announcements. In the most central area for the government, the economy, it was very much a case of plus ca change. George Osborne, unsurprisingly, remained in place, as did Vince Cable [...]
Progressive Conservatism 2005-2012
Sep 4th, 2012 by Carl Packman.David Wooding, the political editor of The Sun, said during reports of the cabinet reshuffle that for him two things were at play: firstly moves were being made in order for the Tories to be more in touch with the public, and secondly Cameron wanted to temper the rabble on his backbenches. To be sure, [...]
