Back in August 2014, the Times ran a screaming headline saying Muslims told to ‘vote for mayor or be damned’. The quote marks in the headline might have led a reader to assume that the Times were referring to someone who had actually said this, but sadly journalistic standards at the Thunderer are not what […]
The Beckett Report debunks simplistic myths about why we lost in May 2015
Jan 20th, 2016 by Andy Newman.The recently published Beckett Report on the reasons for Labour’s defeat in the 2015 general election is both useful and persuasively argued. It provides a set of observations and reasoned conclusions which will help us to build for the next election, and put Jeremy Corbyn into 10 Downing Street. The report debunks some of the […]
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Conventional warheads on Trident actually might make sense
Jan 17th, 2016 by Andy Newman.Jeremy Corbyn’s suggestion that Britain could profitably employ Vanguard class submarines armed with Trident missiles, using conventional warheads, but with potential nuclear capability could make a great deal of military and political sense. The British state has a responsibility to protect the safety of citizens, deter and prevent attacks on British territory, and defend legitimate […]
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NATO’s disastrous legacy in Libya
Dec 31st, 2015 by Andy Newman.There is almost an air of desperation in the recent unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2259 that seeks to bring together a critical mass of Libyan factions and actors to support a new unity government of national accord that will oversee a peace process. Libya’s new Presidency Council will form a government within 30 days […]
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UNISON activists need to move on from the General Secretary election
Dec 23rd, 2015 by Andy Newman.I am not a member of UNISON, and I am neither qualified nor inclined to comment on the respective merits of the various candidates who recently contested their election for General Secretary. However, I do think that there is cause for concern for the whole labour movement that such a large and important union may […]
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We must defend the Stop the War Coalition
Dec 17th, 2015 by Andy Newman.I was very disappointed to see a rather shoddy hatchet job against Stop the War recently, not from the usual “decent” suspects, but from Phil Burton-Cartledge, right here on Left Futures. Let us be clear, over the issue of war in Afghanistan, the British establishment has been proven wrong, and the arguments made by Stop the War at the […]
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Jeremy Corbyn follows the example of Lincoln
Dec 3rd, 2015 by Andy Newman.Possibly the best film I have ever seen about politics is Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. It is partly inspired by Doris Kearns Goodwin’s extraordinary book, Team of Rivals, that includes biographies of Edward Bates, Salmon Chase and William Seward, who served in Lincoln’s cabinet, but were also opponents of his who had themselves sought the Republican […]
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How Britain could assist in the fight against ISIL without air strikes
Nov 30th, 2015 by Andy Newman.The performance of Jeremy Corbyn on the Andrew Marr show was extraordinarily impressive, puncturing in a number of places the complacent rationalisations that David Cameron has presented for British involvement in the Syrian civil war. Let us remind ourselves that this is an issue that the Conservative Party is also divided over, with MPs such […]
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Corbynomics and balanced budgets
Sep 28th, 2015 by Andy Newman.It has been a stormingly successful two weeks for Jeremy Corbyn, and for the Labour Party. We have seen membership growth, not only more members, but a membership more representative of the broader population, younger and more gender balanced. We have a majority of women in the shadow cabinet for the first time ever, we […]
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Exposing corporate hypocrites
Aug 17th, 2015 by Andy Newman.A key concept in modern marketing is that of Brand Promise: the commitments made by a company that seek to align it to the expectations and preferences of its target market, to provide competitive advantage. In particular, some companies seek to position themselves as “ethical”, whether in relation to avoiding controversial business sectors, such as […]
