Let’s never forget what Nick Clegg promised just four years ago: I really think tuition fees are wrong. I think it is wrong to saddle young people with £25,000 of debt before they’ve even taken a step in adult life.”
Posts under ‘Lib-Dems’
Almost total tack of accountability of private hospitals is a glaring scandal
Sep 17th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Last month’s report by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest on patient safety risks in private hospitals is a real eye-opener. Apparently more than 800 people have died ‘unexpectedly’ in private hospitals in the last 4 years, and a total of 921 serious injuries were recorded. Even this may be a significant under-estimation […]
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Detoxifying the Liberal Democrats
Jul 25th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.What are we to make of the LibDem’s about-turn on the bedroom tax? Whole-hearted penance or are more cynical motives at work? I’m sure readers won’t be shocked if the truth lies closer to the latter pole than the former, but it begs the question. With up to two-thirds of the Parliamentary party looking to have an […]
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Why are all 3 parties fixated on stagnation, falling wages, rising debt & inequality?
Jul 21st, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It is often said that when all three political parties are locked together on the same idea, it is bound to be wrong. Given the Tory-LibDem coalition determination to continue austerity unabated throughout the next Parliament, it is sad to see Ed Miliband telling the NPF forum over this weekend that “we won’t have the […]
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The sharks are circling Scottish Water
Jun 4th, 2014 by Dave Watson.Scottish Water is a public corporation that delivers a publicly owned water and sewerage service to the people of Scotland, unlike the privatised service in the rest of the UK. It’s a model that has served Scotland well, delivering clean fresh Scottish water to homes and businesses and removing sewage along some 60,000 miles of […]
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The Lib Dem leadership crisis
May 29th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Oh no, not the LibDems again. Yes, the crisis in the yellow party rumbles on and on. Though, to be accurate, this is nothing new – it’s been on slow burn since they spectacularly and wretchedly betrayed their tuition fees pledge. Every vicious turn since, be it the bedroom tax, defending work capability assessments, cheering the backdoor […]
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Where now for the Liberal Democrats
May 26th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.While we wait for the final results from the Orkneys to trickle in so I can scrutinise those all-important No2EU votes, let’s spare a thought for the Liberal Democrats. They went from 11 MEPs to just one, and managed to lose even more councillors than the Tories. In all, a very bad night and a […]
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The Un-credible Shrinking Man
May 8th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.Labour’s party political broadcast. Funny? Convincing? I’m not sure. There is a place for negative campaigning but only if used sparingly and with great caution. But at least answering these questions is a better use of focus groups than helping a political party make its policy. Let’s hope they did ask some real people outside […]
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Stopping Pfizer takeover of AstraZeneca is test case for safeguarding UK strategic interests
May 1st, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It is incredible that a US company can quite openly flaunt a major British strategic company as a bargaining chip to reduce its internal US tax liabilities. But that is exactly Pfizer’s position in trying to take over AstraZeneca, Britain’s second biggest pharmaceutical company which alone provides 2.3% of UK exports, £2.8bn of UK R&D, […]
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We need to back local pubs
Jan 22nd, 2014 by Andy Newman.In January 2013, Vince Cable, the business secretary, announced that the relationship between pub companies (PubCos)and publicans would be defined in law, and an independent adjudicator appointed to examine unfair practices. The Financial Times reported Mr Cable speech at the time, where the minister said:
