A letter from the Confused British Public
Dear The Left,
Thank you for your policy suggestions, which have been passed to the relevant departments. We are very grateful for all your hard work, however it would be appreciated if you could clarify some points.
We have been listening to your theories on the deficit and we are certainly interested in your theories.
As a member of the British Public, to tell you the truth, I’ve always thought of a country’s budget like that of a household’s, but thinking about it I see you have a point and that things are more complicated than that.
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The case for the expulsion of Alan Milburn
Tribalism gets a bad press. It usually carries negative connotations, implies irrational partisan bickering, and is used to cast disdain on opponents (internal or external).
Which is a shame, because tribalism is an important and usually indispensable part of politics. We’d all do better to recall that it has its virtues as well as vices, even if they are often born of necessity.
First, let’s recall what politics is: competition between two or more groups attempting to secure outcomes which the other side not only opposes, but frequently thinks are morally wrong.
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Why I’ve decided to join the Labour party
This has probably been the most difficult political decision I’ve made yet. Being an independent lefty was a badge I wore with pride; it gave me the license to criticise and praise any political party without the baggage that comes with affiliation.
The decision to nail my colours to the mast then wasn’t taken lightly.
But eventually, I don’t think it was possible to sit by idly while the Coalition tries to better Thatcher in destroying the welfare state. I wanted to get involved in the fight-back but I also wanted to be part of a political movement that articulated an alternative. And so, the political climate forced my hand.
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Philip Green threatens BBC for asking questions
Last week the government appointed businessman Philip Green to leads its ‘efficiency review’ of cuts.
Questions were immediately raised by several people about Green’s own tax status. After all, if the government wants to close the deficit – why not focus on tax evasion?
As Will Straw pointed out at the Guardian:
Launching his one-sided crusade there was no mention of the tax gap, which dwarfs welfare and tax credit fraud by a factor of more than 10 to one. Cameron has now added insult to injury by appointing Sir Philip Green – a tax avoider – as his efficiency tsar.
…
In 2006, using figures calculated by campaigning accountant Richard Murphy, the BBC’s Money Programme reported that Philip Green and his family had saved themselves nearly £300m the previous year living partly in Monaco, where residents do not have to pay income tax.
So why shouldn’t the BBC ask the same question?
On Friday, the Today programme did.
In an article for the Mail on Sunday yesterday, Green says:
I was asked on to Radio 4′s Today programme to speak about our new role but such was the lack of focus, the interviewer seemed more interested in my friendship with Naomi Campbell.
Perhaps when I finish this job, my next could be to review the strategy and costs of the BBC.
Green clearly does not like journalists doing their job.
Labour must pledge to heal the sickness at the heart of our economy
I once worked at the bank Merrill Lynch. During the tech-boom, one of Merrill’s analysts, Henry Blodget, an expert on technology companies, would write equity research – essentially buy or sell recommendations – that the bank’s stockbrokers would use to recommend securities to their clients.
However, while he was publishing reports saying that certain securities were instant buys, he was also sending internal emails ridiculing what “dogs” they really were. Meanwhile, there was pressure from the retail banking side, which invariably wants to capture cash deposits and provide servces to businesses for large fees.
I saw this often during my time in the City.
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Govt abandons green pretence by OKing coal
The coalition is watering down a commitment to tough new environmental emissions standards, raising the possibility of dirty coal-fired power stations such as Kingsnorth going ahead.
Green groups are aghast that a flagship policy called for in opposition by both Lib Dems and Tories, and which they last year tried to force on the Labour government, will now not be implemented in the coalition’s first energy bill to be published this year.
Their criticism of the government’s commitment to green issues follows news last week that nature reserves could be sold off as countryside protection measures also bear the brunt of budget cuts in the Department for Environment.
Introducing a so-called “environmental performance standard” (EPS) for power companies would have restricted greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas plants and encouraged companies wishing to build to use more efficient technology.
‘A rat race is for rats. We’re not rats’ – Jimmy Reid’s speech in 1972
Jimmy Reid, the Clydeside trade union activist who died this week, was an inspiring orator. This speech, delivered on his inauguration as rector of Glasgow University in 1972. We reproduce it here in honour of the anniversary.
Alienation is the precise and correctly applied word for describing the major social problem in Britain today. People feel alienated by society. In some intellectual circles it is treated almost as a new phenomenon. It has, however, been with us for years. What I believe is true is that today it is more widespread, more pervasive than ever before. Let me right at the outset define what I mean by alienation. It is the cry of men who feel themselves the victims of blind economic forces beyond their control.
It’s the frustration of ordinary people excluded from the processes of decision-making. The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades people who feel with justification that they have no real say in shaping or determining their own destinies.
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Cameron will fail in reviving Conservatism
American columnists speak at the moment of conservative “epistemic closure” to describe the debasing of modern conservatism’s glorious legacy, first used in this context by libertarian writer and Economist blogger Julian Sanchez as short-hand for “ideological intolerance and misinformation”.
The idea is to show that conservatism has hit a wall and is appealing to low, base politics of xenophobia or ad hominem attack, as opposed to its rich, great tradition.
British conservatism has had a fair deal of “epistemic closure” in recent years also, and it’s something for the left to consider when we vent our criticisms on the right wing.
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Watch: Democracy, road to self-destruction…
From the file marked ‘who needs meds when you’ve got a camcorder and a youtube account?’ a good American Catholic explains what the real problem with democracy is and how best to fix it…
Tell you what, try watching the video here while I try to figure out why I can’t get the damn thing to embed properly.
(Via Pharyngula)
Why IHT should be called the Death & Destruction tax
contribution by Adam Bell
While much of the left continues to fight amongst itself over how it should react to the fact that its political wing doesn’t even have a whisker of power any more, the centre-right coalition that currently governs the country is busy reshaping it in its own image.
This is no surprise; all parties do this when they’re in office. The problem is that arguing entirely within a left-wing context means that your arguments have little purchase beyond your immediate ideological buddies, inevitably weakening the left’s eventual response to the new age of austerity.
As an avowed centrist who fundamentally dislikes any one side of the debate getting too much power, I’d like to sketch out an argument that the left can use to demonstrate the moral necessity of progressive taxation using the language and principles of right-wing libertarianism.
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