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The positioning over the EU debate is, inevitably, very political. The Liberal Democrats have a three line whip against a referendum despite their manifesto commitment, presumably because any referendum would split the coalition badly. Labour also want to seem united on the matter, keen to avoid a Conservative-style split. Despite a few Labour names (including [...]

Do you consider yourself “left-wing” or “right-wing”? Let’s assume that by “left” and “right” we’re talking about the level of state intervention exercised to balance wealth – left being in favour of significant state intervention, right being in favour of minimal intervention. What about the specifics? What do you think of criminal justice? Is that [...]

An e-petition calling for rioters to lose their benefits has rapidly gained the 100,000 signatures needed for it to be passed to parliament (and last time I checked had over 200,000 signatures). Personally, I foresee problems with this not as a result of some sort of right to benefits, but purely because you are introducing [...]

Bluntly speaking, the strikes don’t seem to have benefited anyone politically. I’m not sure anyone really expected it to do the coalition any good. No government wants a strike on its hands since images of thousands of people waving signs protesting against it will dominate the headlines that day. Ed Miliband had a very difficult [...]

There’s been a lot of coverage of the changes to the NHS reforms announced today. In particular, the media have focused on the notion that it is “yet another U-turn” by the government in a long list of changed policies. The government won’t say it as it would look stroppy, but I suspect a lot [...]

Throughout the campaigning for AV, and for some time before, there has been a lot of talk of “new politics”. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of what the term means has been assumed by both those who use the term and those who hear it: accountable politicians, an end to scandals, [...]

A few days ago, I put up a new page at http://www.jointheagora.com to announce the launch of the Agora on May 11th – a new discussion site. In keeping with my previous post, here’s the summary: It’s a site where anyone can discuss current affairs and the subjects that should be covered by politics, but [...]

As a result of Alan Johnson’s resignation today, Ed Balls has become the new Shadow Chancellor. Inevitably there will be much speculation about the consequences this will have on Labour’s economic policy, given that Mr. Balls has argued so strongly against any cuts and even spoken out against Alistair Darling. Ed Miliband has tried to [...]

Ed Balls has recently stated in an interview that Labour had taken wrong decisions on civil liberties. In the interview with Andrew Marr, he described the efforts to pass laws allowing 90 days detention without trial as “a step too far”. The change of position from Labour inevitably has political consequences. I think it’s fair [...]

On Saturday, the comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” in Washington D.C. At the end of the day, Jon Stewart made a short ten minute speech about why he wanted to hold the rally – arguing that there was a spirit of cooperation in America where not [...]