Budget 2011: Retro Shock Doctrine as Thatcher’s Enterprise Zones return
In a display of loyalty to the memory of Margaret Thatcher (don't get excited; she's still alive), George Osborne today announced that now the Tories are back in power, they're…
Budget open thread
George Osborne gives his first regular-season Budget speech today at You can watch on BBC2, BBC Parliament or online at BBC Democracy Live. We'll have analysis for you once we…
Green conference – monetary reform and citizens’ income
Green Party Spring Conference is this weekend in Cardiff. This is some continued coverage from this afternoon. The first big debate of the afternoon was between Bright Green co-editor Alasdair…
Pepper spray update: the law is just for plebs
Slightly as I expected, in asking where the Met's Defence Council authorisation to carry pepper spray or CS was, I was missing something. I assumed it would be an obscure…
Are the police carrying pepper spray illegally?
Today, at a peaceful UK Uncut demonstration at a central London branch of Boots, a number of demonstrators were attacked by police officers deploying a lachrymatory agent which was either…
How the Irish Greens got into a Coalition mess…
The Irish Greens have finally pulled the plug on the Fianna Fail led Government of the dead that has been staggering from crisis to crisis since the economy collapsed in…
Ratcliffe trial: a defendant tells the tale
Soaring ambitions Being arrested and charged with a crime you didn’t commit is far less glamorous in real life than in the movies. It happened to me just before midnight,…
Where Next for the Greens in Northern Ireland?
With forthcoming elections in both parts of the island of Ireland in early 2011 (Assembly and local elections in Northern Ireland in May and a general election in the republic…
Why I superglued myself to the Royal Bank of Scotland
Scotland is a country deeply associated with standing up for the underdog and challenging injustice. This is reflected in steps to become a Fairtrade nation, to build closer links with…
Event Horizon: Beyond the 2010 Election
You probably think you know the implications of the General Election. I think I know the implications, or at least some of them. But I’m not sure. And therein lies…