It’s not just the NOTW that needs to be destroyed
Gordon Brown isn’t the most loved Labour leader ever. But he has a bit of an air of authenticity to him: the kind of man who wouldn’t sell his kid’s illness for political advantage, for example.
So whenever the details of his first kid’s death and second kid’s illness [*] appeared in the Sun, it genuinely made me think less of him. After all, it’s a perfect NewLab, Alastair Campbell media strategy to humanise the dude.
But it turns out that Brown never leaked to the Sun at all, and that this – like, apparently, every other story News International has won – was obtained by thievery.
continue reading… »
In defence of Monarchies
My lack of interest in the forthcoming Royal nuptials is about as total as it gets. However, people will keep writing about it, and I don’t always look away from their articles in time…
So Johann Hari has written a fairly boilerplate piece about the monarchy, and why the UK shouldn’t have one. He sensibly and rapidly deals with the fatuous points that monarchists make about tourism and ‘defenders of democracy’.
But there’s also this:
continue reading… »
Barclays paid a billion quid in tax – but not to us
It’s become a well-reported trope over the course of a weekend that Barclays only paid GBP113m in UK corporation tax in 2009.
Various people of various ideologies have reacted to this disclosure, some by blockading Barclays branches, some by making fairly irrelevant points about tax losses.
But the truth, found in Barclay’s 2009 annual report – is a bit more complicated.
continue reading… »
The Observer bravely stands up for punishment without trial
There was a very odd piece in Sunday’s Observer, running under the headline MEPs putting child pornographers’ rights ahead of abuse victims, claim campaigners.
The piece, written by veteran home affairs correspondent Jamie Doward, says – as a reported fact in the piece, not as a quote from a pressure group:
The European parliament’s civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee (LIBE) will meet in Strasbourg tomorrow, when it is expected to approve a controversial measure that would compel EU member states to inform publishers of child pornography that their images are to be deleted from the internet or blocked. Child pornographers will also have to be informed of their right to appeal against any removal or blocking
Oxbridge isn’t racist – but it’s failing the working class
Newspapers are frustrating. They often report stories that are genuinely interesting and worth investigating in a way that’s so misleading and confusing that the real point gets totally lost amid extremist rhetoric.
The Guardian’s reporting of David Lammy’s data on ethnic minority admissions of domestic Oxbridge undergraduates is a good example: some of the underlying data is good, but many of the factoids are wrong or misleading.
continue reading… »
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange isn’t is now accused of rape – updated
[Update 9th December 2010 - The charges are now clarified and written about here.]
It’s become a prevalent meme across the western media – who, completely coincidentally, hate Wikileaks – that Julian Assange is currently being sought by the Swedish police on rape charges.
He isn’t. He’s sought on made-up-weird-charges that aren’t a crime in the UK, or anywhere else sensible.
Killer line:
The consent of both women to sex with Assange has been confirmed by prosecutors.
Labour blames immigration but working class betrayal is the real issue
When talking about Phil Woolas, immigration or “white working class racism”, it’s easy to lose sight of some important points.
Especially when populist demagogues blame immigration for all our ills, with more success than anyone in their right mind would like.
1) For sheer economic reasons, which can only be avoided by sacrificing the massive economic gains associated with them, the unskilled working class have been screwed over since the 1970s.
continue reading… »
Fears of talent leaving City ‘over-blown’
From Financial News:
Not a single trading team from Tullett Prebon, the London-based broker which told employees they cold move abroad for tax reasons in one of the clearest signals of an exodus from London has moved, almost a year after the offer was made.
It is the second development in a week that suggests fears over core talent leaving the City were overblown.
So *nobody at all* at Tullett thought that they would be better off paying less tax to work somewhere that wasn’t in London.
I suppose some people might argue that although not emigrating, Tullett’s brokers are working-to-rule and deliberately ensuring they aren’t eligible for big bonuses, because they’d rather have 100% of nothing than 50% of a lot.
This doesn’t seem entirely convincing, given the personality traits of the trader-y types that I’ve encountered…
Sanity, liberalism and hypocrisy. And MORE BOOZE!
Much of the most interesting work that I’ve done has been paid for by the drinks industry. So I’m about as impartial on this article as Mao Zedong on ‘whether or not Chinese-style communism was a good idea’.
Nonetheless, the often-missed point about the drinks industry, is that we’re an interesting, jolly, fun and indispensable part of society. A wedding without some champers, or a night out with the boys without a few beers would be shit.
continue reading… »
The Pope is not the same as The Irish
So there’s a debate in the UK liberal blogosphere about Catholicism, Catholics, and when debate turns into race hate. The reasons why this is contentious are pretty obvious.
On the one hand, the Catholic Church is one of the most revolting institutions ever to have existed, second only to the USSR in terms of ‘well-meaning ideas invented by a nice chap that you could have enjoyed a cup of tea with, taken up by insane evil egomaniacs and turned into an excuse for tyranny and genocide’.
continue reading… »
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.
» Why Quantitative Easing doesn’t make common sense
» Barclays was also bailed out – Diamond doesn’t deserve a bonus
» Ten myths about private rented housing
» Even on the left, morality has its limits
» The NHS bill could be a Waterloo moment for the govt
» Ken Livingstone and gay rights – it just isn’t an issue
» Abu Qatada deportation: what about our principles?
» New study shows a Robinhood tax would boost growth
» In defence of Sky News’ re-Tweeting ban
» Another reason to continue banker bashing
» An attack on the wind industry is an attack on UK jobs
|
14 Comments 17 Comments 26 Comments 42 Comments 21 Comments 13 Comments 49 Comments 11 Comments 78 Comments 5 Comments |
|
LATEST COMMENTS » ROFLMFAO posted on Fabians change policy on unpaid internships » Cherub posted on High pay - in football and banking - shouldn't be about morality » jojo posted on Venables journo has manslaughter conviction » Sun journos nicked in hack enquiry shocker « andrew henley posted on Venables journo has manslaughter conviction » Daniel Factor posted on High pay - in football and banking - shouldn't be about morality » UKFI Not FFP posted on High pay - in football and banking - shouldn't be about morality » Frances_coppola posted on Why Quantitative Easing doesn't make common sense » Spike1138 posted on Abu Qatada deportation: what about our principles? » Bren Cook posted on New study shows a Robinhood tax would boost growth » Frances_coppola posted on Why Quantitative Easing doesn't make common sense » Tricia McDaid posted on Venables journo has manslaughter conviction » Edward Buxton posted on Venables journo has manslaughter conviction » Rich posted on Venables journo has manslaughter conviction » ll_bazwaldo posted on Paediatricians Assoc. members slams NHS bill » ll_bazwaldo posted on Paediatricians Assoc. members slams NHS bill |
