Lower Than Vermin
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Die, die, die! This was one of the most enthusiastic chants I heard outside the Tory party conference on Sunday; two decades later, protesters in Manchester haven't…
The case against landlords
Let's face it: nobody wants to live in private sector rented accommodation. This is the type of housing which provides the least secure forms of tenure, and where the worst…
Abortion Rights: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
There's a certain irony to promoting “non-directive counselling” as a means of reducing the abortion rate. But I'm starting to think that the coalition government doesn't really understand irony. The…
Why We Have A Welfare State
David Cameron thinks that the only way to save our public services is by harnessing the opposing forces of volunteerism and capitalism. I'd like to think that history proves him…
The Cost of Efficiency Savings
Of all the dirty tactics that the Conservatives have deployed since coming to power, using the localism agenda as a cover for massive austerity measures has to be one of…
Save Our Services: East Edinburgh Edition
Sometimes, something happens that restores your faith in activism, and humanity in general. This week, I had one of those moments at a public meeting for Save Our Services East…
Abortion Rights and Democracy: The Nadine Dorries Update
When I wrote a piece for Bright Green a few weeks ago on the undemocratic nature of challenges to abortion rights, I didn't expect to be writing a follow-up quite…
The Slow Squeeze on Science Funding
Following a campaign lead by high-profile scientists last year, the government agreed to protect funding for scientific research from the worst of the cuts inflicted by the Comprehensive Spending Review.…
The Dependency Paradox
Personal responsibility is a recurring theme in Conservative rhetoric, although they tend to use the more down-to-earth expression of “doing the right thing”. David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith in…
Abortion Rights and Democracy
Nadine Dorries doesn't like facts; she admits that her own blog is “70% fiction”, and has a reputation for citing urban legends in support of her own views. So here's…