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 […]
Posts under ‘Religion’
Labour’s Blues #3 – a coherent ‘anti-theory’ theory that must be challenged
Mar 30th, 2015 by David Pavett.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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On three ‘parent’ babies and churches bearing false witness
Feb 3rd, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.This story caught my eye as I was preparing to teach earlier today. The science behind three-person babies is exciting and interesting, and holds the promise of banishing mitochondrial disease to the medical history books. The science, which I don’t properly understand as I spent GCSE science tippexing natty doodles on my biology folder, involves removing […]
Cameron may play the envangelist, but he’s no more Christian than my cat
May 5th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.When Cameron said pointedly over Easter, which he has repeated since, that he evangelises over his Christianity, no-one of course believed him, but they did wonder why he said it. Alistair Campbell thought that after the Maria Miller scandal he needed something to change the subject, and around Easter what better opportunity than to wear […]
Four oddities of Labour education policy
Apr 22nd, 2014 by David Pavett.The Labour Party’s declared aim is to build a “one-nation society” with a “one-nation economy” and a “one-nation education system”. What would a “one-nation education system” look like? Clearly, there can be many different solution to such a complex problem but some general principles would need to apply in all cases. With this in mind […]
Islam and the New Atheists
Jul 26th, 2013 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.I do like James Bloodworth and I think he’s done a great job building up the profile of Left Foot Forward since taking up the reins. But his recent piece for The Speccie, It’s fine to be a ‘new’ atheist, so long as you don’t object to Islam reads like it was written in haste. As such it is unsophisticated and limited, […]
Opposing poverty: a job for the left, not the churches
Apr 1st, 2013 by David Osler.When I give food to the poor, I’m propping up David Cameron’s Big Society programme. When I ask why the poor have no food, I sometimes wonder what I’m doing in the Labour Party any more. Recent weeks have seen the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 42 other Church of England bishops, the Baptist Union […]
The state should rid itself of its turbulent church
Nov 24th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Equality and religous freedom. Two fundamental rights, belief in which we share, at least in principle, with the Tory party. Maria Miller, Culture Secretary and minister for equalities, may well have our sympathy, then, in urging the Church of England to think again on women bishops. Some MPs, of all major parties, led by former […]