The cuts won’t work
I was asked to speak at a fundraiser for The Cuts Won't Work campaign tonight. This is roughly what I said. I always think it's good to interrupt a comedy…
The Genocide’s Not Over, Kagame
Following on from our criticism of the Tory obsession with Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Nishma Doshi writes more about what really going on in Rwanda (cross posted from her blog). Making…
How Edinburgh Council risks Squandering £168k
On the old ward based statistics, Craigmillar was the most deprived area in the East of Scotland. Years of economic decline compounded by high levels of drug use and unemployment…
Shedding the AV mask: lessons from Australia
By Nishma Doshi. This is the first in our series in the run up to the Green Party conferences, where, among other things, Green Party of England and Wales policy…
Bond markets boom – why are we cutting?
The Tories originally told us that they had to make cuts because we were borrowing too much. The argument was that the bond traders, from whom we were borrowing, would…
Why not nationalise to cut the deficit?
The national deficit isn't really a problem. Well, at least, certainly not in the short or medium term. The UK government is borrowing less per unit GDP than most other…
The TaxPayers’ Alliance: Not Entirely Wrong
The Tax Payers' Alliance (TPA) have a new report on welfare reform. Don Paskini's already had a review of it over on Liberal Conspiracy. He makes some interesting points but…
‘we have to do something about the economy’
The idea that big problems require big solutions is not entirely rational. But it is psychologically compelling. And so it is that politicians can secure radical policies more easily in…
How Stirling Albion and FC Barcelona Show the Way Forward for Football
Football is probably closest to our opiate of the masses. There’s plenty of social commentary on how football reflects our society. I’m certainly intrigued by how it grew in significance…
Australia v Serbia: a bloody history
My latest piece on the excellent WDM World Cup blog So, here’s a question. Which member of the OECD “rich countries club” allowed slavery until 1969? Here’ s another. In…