Luke Akehurst thinks Labour needs to take the side of ‘national security‘ in the debate around Trident renewal. I agree. However, Luke, like most proponents of nuclear weapons, is not on the side of national security. In fact, nuclear weapons, their existence and retention by all the ‘great powers’ (and some not so great) is […]
We need a Murdoch-free press
Apr 9th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.It’s been a bad week for Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corporation. The ‘apology’ for its phone-hacking antics are set to open the floodgates on other such claims but few readers will worry about that. Indeed, News Corps plight isn’t worth even a note from the world’s smallest violin. The problems that underpin the story, however, are […]
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“Make it 50” and the Janus-faced Yes Campaign….
Apr 4th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.The new Yes to AV slogan ‘Make it 50’ is dreadful on so many levels. It’s obscure and people who are not immediately aware of the 50% argument won’t have a cat in hells chance of knowing what it means. Nor, I suspect, will they have much inclination to find either. For Yes it rather […]
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Osborne’s tax Trojan horse
Mar 29th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.We all know the welfare budget has been one of the main targets of ‘Slasher’ Osborne’s cuts. However, this Budget saw a more insidious threat emerge to the welfare state that Labour, Beveridge and Bevan et al built on the foundations laid, ironically, by the Liberal, David Lloyd George. Under the guise of ‘simplyfying’ the […]
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Reasons to support UN Resolution on Libya
Mar 18th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.Today’s events have thus far stood as a shining testament to the lack of any kind of intellectual or moral coherency on the left. I support UN Resolution 1973 (2011) and this is why. First, let’s clear away all the caveats; of course, there is a degree of hypocrisy here. However, we should always remember that […]
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Wanted: a political programme for the anti-cuts movement
Mar 17th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.One of the things that the anti-cuts movement is conspicuous in lacking currently is a political programme. An economic programme it has some suggestions of, but a political one, it totally lacks. This may seem insignificant but it is actually far from it. For example, one of the reasons we have struggled to win any […]
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Our European future…
Mar 11th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.The news that the European Parliament voted in favour of adoption of a report by Greek Socialist, Anni Podimata which included a range of progressive measures, including a tax on financial transactions (aka a Tobin or Robin Hood tax) should give the left pause for thought. Were there to ever actually be an ‘In/Out’ referendum […]
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Why doesn’t the Left do better?
Mar 5th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.In the wee small hours following the Barnsley Central by-election this question was asked of me on Twitter. It seems a reasonable question. After all, capitalism is in far from in rude health and I suspect there are elements of the story the left tells about it that would find a receptive audience. Tales of […]
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Labour No to AV is born…
Mar 2nd, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.It looks like those within the Labour Party who want a No to AV vote on May 5th finally have an organisation to take-on Labour Yes. Quietly, Labour No to AV is being born. It has its own website which you can see here and, in addition, literature has been produced by three trade unions opposed […]
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Happy Birthday Labour!
Feb 27th, 2011 by Darrell Goodliffe.Happy Birthday to Labour which has reached the grand-old age of 111. Out of government it maybe but that is not to say it is not in surprisingly rude health for its age following an influx of new members and scaling some impressive heights in terms of its poll rating. Looking back, it has plenty […]
