Climate challenges for a future Labour government
I was asked by the Young Fabians to write about the climate change challenges for a potential Labour government in 2015. This piece first appeared in their magazine - Anticipations…
Jack McConnell blasts Labour’s “caveman” attitude to Happiness Index
Former Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell has hit out at Labour's dismissal of the 'Happiness Index', published yesterday by the Office of National Statistics. Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Michael Dugher…
Which way is the wind blowing? Or why we need a theory of social change
Bob Dylan famously sang “You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows” these words chimed with 1960s youth across advanced capitalists countries, who were becoming…
The end of opposition
Yesterday the official opposition gave up. In a packed room at The Insititute for Education Ed Balls finally confirmed what many of us have been thinking for a while: The…
Three things about the independence referendum scrap
First: let's get one thing straight. Nations have a right to self determination in international law. David Cameron may quibble about the devolved powers of the Holyrood Parliament under the…
Stop Lying About the Nation’s Credit Card
We’re making sure that this generation does not bankrupt the next. Not saddling them with our debts, not maxing out on the nation’s credit card, but building a better future for…
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…
Labour, loveable institutions, elections and the real big picture: a scattershot attempt to start a painful discussion
02:59 in a bedroom in Belfast is the wrong time and place to get deeply restless and fired up for a new, robust, proud and striving social democracy. And, as…
The Labour Party and Northern Ireland
At the risk of sounding like I have too much experience of this, I imagine that being voted out of government must be a lot like getting chucked by someone…
Time for reflection
Like many people, I've spent much of today asleep. The day after results night is always a strange one - a day of jubilation, or a day of disappointment. For…