Prospect gets cash injection
Prospect, the highbrow current affairs magazine, has received a cash injection thought to be more than £500,000 and is hoping to more than double its circulation, its publisher David Hanger has disclosed.
Venture capitalist Peter Hall, the executive chairman of insurance giant Resolution Clive Cowdery and George Robinson, founder of the hedge fund Sloane Robinson are all contributing “a few hundred thousand pounds each” over three years in a private capacity according to the magazine’s publisher David Hanger, a former executive at the Economist.
Hanger, who would not reveal the exact sums invested, added that he hoped that by the end of the three years, the magazine’s circulation would almost double from its current total of about 27,000 to more than 50,000. He added that he was keen to make a profit from the magazine, which he says currently “bumps along the bottom”.
The three new investors now own more than 50% of the publication with the rest in the hands of what Hanger calls a “very interesting and long tail” of minor shareholders, including the title’s founder and editor David Goodhart.
Liberal Conspiracy briefing: Exposing the DWP’s lie detector testing
Hello LC readers I have a treat for you. Today we start publishing the first of our briefings – a document I’ve been working on for the past month or so. It’s not coming out all at once because there are some legal and other issues still to be resolved. But in coming days and weeks, more will be revealed.
Our focus is on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and in particular its recent decision to use lie detection technology to catch out benefit claimants.
We think that this is not only unethical, but the technology itself is so prone to error as to be useless for the purpose for which is it supposedly intended. So why is the DWP spending over a million pounds promoting it across local authorities? Has it done research into its drawbacks and limitations? If yes, then why is it still using it?
Top Stories – 11th March 2009
Nationwide
Madoff could face 150 years in jail
Toyota cutting production and pay
Nine arrests over ‘£40m mortgage scam’
Libertas enter EU elections in UK
International
Dalai Lama: Tibet turned into ‘Hell on Earth’
Europeans debate castration of sex offenders
Show falls foul of monkey called Ahmadinejad
Citibank’s long history of rescues
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / coming later
How liberal are the Conservatives?
With Shirley Williams speaking on liberalism and Labour in conversation with Michael Crick at last night’s Fabian event (previewed by Ed Wallis), and Stuart White setting out some challenges to the LibDems (though he also, rightly in my view, credits their strong overall record in this area).
So let’s complete the set.
Thanks to Evan Harris MP suggesting and coordinating the following letter to The Observer, published on Sunday, following the Convention on Modern Liberty, which senior Conservatives had been keen to use as an opportunity to project the party as “pro” civil liberties.
continue reading… »
Climate change deniers are ‘flat earthers’ and ‘ridiculous’
I was at a DFID conference yesterday on how the government and NGOs were responding to the economic crisis, global development and climate change. I had the opportunity to ask Lord Stern, who prepared the highly influential Stern Report in 2007, some questions.
Lord Stern, quite rightly in my view, poured scorn on a New York conference this week for climate change deniers.
I wrote it up for the Guardian today:
Climate change deniers are “ridiculous” and akin to “flat-earthers”, according to Sir Nicholas Stern, who advised the government about the economic threat posed by global warming. The respected economist compared climate naysayers to those who deny the link between smoking and cancer or HIV and Aids in the face of mounting scientific evidence.
His comments came in response to news that the Czech president Václav Klaus would this week attend a New York conference of climate change naysayers from around the world. Stern said Klaus was “totally confused on this issue” and liked to “gather rather confused people around him”.
Lord Stern offered some excellent responses, and the last bit is amusing. Here’s the transcript to the short interview.
continue reading… »
What now that capitalism has failed?
Here’s an interesting example of intertextuality; Martin Wolf opens a lengthy think-piece on the future of capitalism with this striking five word assertion: ‘Another ideological God has failed’.
The reference, of course, is to the well-known 1949 book ‘The God that failed’, in which six famous former Communists offer readers a heart-to-heart on the reasons for their break with Stalinism. The title designedly underlines the quasi-theological character that conversion to liberalism had for the intellectuals involved.
Can Wolf – one of the leading contemporary representatives of the pro-market and pro-globalisation political right – really be postulating a directly comparable loss of faith?
No turning back for Britain
The leaders of all three main parties want us to turn back as soon as possible to the failed ideas of the pre-crash. We think this would be a huge mistake; with this in mind Neal Lawson and John Harris have written a major essay (for the New Statesman) to kick start a national debate about our country’s future: Polly Toynbee wrote about this over the weekend and now we want visitors of Liberal Conspiracy to join this important discussion.
New times demand new politics.
continue reading… »
Top Stories – 10th March
Nationwide
Big rise in cannabis ‘factories’
Children with older fathers have lower IQs
Tories pledge new academy boarding schools
A nation divided by the recession
International
Tensions high during Tibet anniversary
Warren Buffet: this is economic Pearl Harbor
U.S. halts Afghan raids over civilian deaths
World Bank: economy worst since Depression
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Sarah Ismail
Dr Strangelove Why Bangladesh has banned YouTube.
F Word Jess McCabe is disturbed by the findings of an opinion poll on domestic violence.
Indigo Jo On the ‘One Law For All’ rally. Tuesday Tolerance 1.
MediaWatchWatch The Church of Scientology is now protected under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. Tuesday Tolerance 2.
Pickled Politics Why does racial segregation occur?
Robert Sharp Murder? Or Terrorism?
TaNehisi Coates The Case Against Racial Dialogue.
Shocking attitudes towards rape & Million Women Rise march
The Home Office yesterday published results of a poll on violence against women.
continue reading… »
Carnival on Modern Liberty
The latest Carnival on ML is hosted by Jonathan Calder at Liberal England. Next week’s Carnival will be at Amused Cynicism. You can submit nominations via this page.
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
» The real agenda behind Telegraph’s abortion investigation
» How Scotland Yard monitors prying bloggers and journalists
» When disabled people want to work – employers can hold the back
» Revealed: the reality behind Workfare and why it doesn’t work
» Job snob? No, I’ve got the T-shirt
» Why country-by-country reporting matters to our wellbeing
» If Unions want to become stronger, they need to modernise
» Why work “reforms” in Spain are a warning for workers across Europe
» Five things you need to know about the NHS bill
» Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier. More Racist.
» Laziness levels in Britain getting lazier, wails government
|
62 Comments 15 Comments 23 Comments 8 Comments 24 Comments 19 Comments 16 Comments 83 Comments 203 Comments 85 Comments |
|
LATEST COMMENTS » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Oliver posted on Job snob? No, I've got the T-shirt » Brummie Protestor posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Hannah posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » mr_hopkinson posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Amy Finlayson posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » pagar posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Oliver Conner posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Ferret Dave posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » Nick H. posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » pjt posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation |
