One hundred and seventy Jeremy Corbyn supporters crammed into the Seven Dials Club, Covent Garden, on Sunday evening to hear stand-up comedy to support Jeremy as Labour leadership contender. The event was organised by Crispin Flintoff, who has organised 155 Stand-up for Labour events, held all around the UK. (It is indicative of the lack […]
Does the acting Labour leader believe in anything?
Jul 13th, 2015 by David Pavett.Harriet Harman’s interview on the Sunday Politics of 12 July, has rapidly and justifiably gained notoriety on social media. It is important that there is a strong reaction from Labour MPs to the interview. The absence of such a reaction would be a very bad omen for Labour. Harman’s line of reasoning can be paraphrased and summarised […]
Share:
“What are your top priorities for Labour?” asks Andy
Jun 17th, 2015 by David Pavett.Like all other Labour Party members I received an email from Andy Burnham a few days ago: I know that if Labour is to win again, we have to change … I want you to be part of that change. I have a strong vision for how our Party needs to change. About how we […]
Share:
How grassroots activists can influence ‘what’s next for Labour?’
May 31st, 2015 by David Pavett.Reviewing what went wrong is a priority for all Labour members. Here David Pavett reports on how one constituency party approached the discussion One hundred and sixty (that’s the official count, I think there were more) people participated in a meeting titled What Next for Labour? in the hall attached to the George IV pub in […]
Share:
What’s the best we can expect from the next leader? More deaf ears to party members?
May 20th, 2015 by David Pavett.It is difficult to discern from a lot of the discussion on the left just what is at stake in the leadership election. There is discussion about whether Andy Burnham is to the right or left of Miliband and of how dreadfully right-wing most of the candidates and potential candidates are. Some are waiting for […]
Share:
The transforming power of music education
Apr 1st, 2015 by David Pavett.Anyone with doubts about the transformative power of music could not have have come across the work of the Venezuelan Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra or the work done with music education in Soweto, South Africa. It is enough to listen and watch a little of the music made by children, many of whom come from […]
Share:
Labour’s Blues #3 – a coherent ‘anti-theory’ theory that must be challenged
Mar 30th, 2015 by David Pavett.In Labour’s Blues #1, I attempted an overview of the recent book Blue Labour – Forging a New Politics . This was followed by Labour’s Blues #2 in which I questioned the values of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) which receives high praise in Blue Labour. In this last piece I return to the arguments of Blue […]
Share:
Labour’s Blues #2 – Catholic doctrine and defence of the existing social order
Mar 25th, 2015 by David Pavett.In Labour’s Blues – anti-secular, anti-rational, more radical conservative than socialist?, I pointed out that the recent book Blue Labour – Forging a New Politics is marked by an anti-secular and anti-rationalist theme running throughout its pages. Further, it claims great importance for religious insights in general and of Catholic Social Thought (CST) in particular as a […]
Share:
Labour’s Blues – anti-secular, anti-rational, more radical conservative than socialist?
Mar 23rd, 2015 by David Pavett.With the 2015 general election almost upon us everyone knows that, even with the boosting effect (for the big parties) of our first past the post system, Labour is unlikely to win a majority of seats. The outcome of the election is especially unpredictable due to the decline of the major parties and the rise […]
Share:
Blue Labour and the Church of England: on class, ethnicity and politics
Feb 26th, 2015 by David Pavett.The recent pastoral letter of the Church of England bishops (Who is my neighbour?) is an effort to inject ethical considerations into a pre-election process in which they are seen to be in short supply. Jon Cruddas, head of the Labour policy review, wrote an article in the Guardian welcoming the letter in glowing and […]
