A dire week for the Conservatives and a disaster for Labour
by Martin Shapland / 30 Mar 2012
The Conservatives have made mistake after mistake this week but Labour's opposition has been vacuous at best, says Martin Shapland
Martin Shapland
Martin is a parliamentary researcher for John Hemming MP. He is also active in youth politics and has previously chaired the Lib Dem’s youth and student wing.
Now based in London, Martin was born in Cumbria and brought up in the West Midlands where he found a largely irrational love for his university town, Birmingham.
He has a keen interest in education policy and international affairs and enjoys relaxing with a good book, if and when he can find the time.
This weekend Liberals should trumpet their influence
by Martin Shapland / 09 Mar 2012
Liberal Democrats have a choice this weekend. They can either trumpet their efforts to make the NHS bill better, or they can succumb to Labour's siren calls of outright opposition
The rise of Liberal factionalism
by Martin Shapland / 13 Feb 2012
Martin Shapland wonders if the growing number of pressure groups within the Liberal Democrats is a sign of the party's coming of age or a prelude to a nasty post-coalition split
On higher education, confusion reigns
by Martin Shapland / 24 Jan 2012
Today’s Telegraph ‘exclusive’ that the higher education bill is about to be ‘indefinitely postponed’ should be good news for students and academics – shouldn’t it?
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Diane Abbott's crass generalisations
by Martin Shapland / 05 Jan 2012
Welcome to the first Twitter storm of 2012, over Diane Abbott’s alleged racism in a tweet claiming that white people ‘love to divide and rule’
The coalition's housing plan is good news for young people
by Martin Shapland / 21 Nov 2011
The average age of the first time home buyer is pushing 40 and deposits and rents are at an all time high. Building new homes and making housing affordable is of the utmost importance
Why the EU referendum motion will die
by Martin Shapland / 21 Oct 2011
The poor timing of Monday's vote on an in-out referendum on Europe is toxic for the coalition and potentially destabilising for the economy, says Martin Shapland, and that’s why it will fail
Faking it at Labour Party conference
by Martin Shapland / 30 Sep 2011
Watching the Labour Party conference this week Martin Shapland detects something deeply unreal about it all
Why Lib Dem conference is the only true conference
by Martin Shapland / 16 Sep 2011
Labour’s conference may be comradely, and the Tories' prim and polished, but of the three main parties, the only conference where the members matter is the Liberal Democrats
The abortion debate borrows from the US Tea Party
by Martin Shapland / 05 Sep 2011
By referring to opponent Dr Evan Harris as ‘Dr Death’, Nadine Dorries and Tim Montgomerie have started to use the low tactics favoured by the US Tea Party movement
Equal taxation? It’s simply generational fairness
by Martin Shapland / 23 Mar 2012
Try as he might, Martin Shapland just can't share your 'Granny Tax' pain
A bag-carrier's guide to surviving Twitter
by Martin Shapland / 02 Mar 2012
Twitter can be a minefield for the politically active aide. Here's Martin Shapland's guide to steering your way safely through it
On fairness the government is taxing its credibility
by Martin Shapland / 06 Feb 2012
When it comes to tax and spend, be it a £26,000 benefits cap, executive pay, bankers bonuses or civil servant largesse, the government needs to tackle abuse and avoidance at every income level
Waiting for the Mili-rapture?
by Martin Shapland / 13 Jan 2012
Is the end nigh for the leader of the opposition? Martin Shapland wonders whether it would kinder if 'Edmageddon' came sooner rather than later
It’s an 1980s thing
by Martin Shapland / 02 Dec 2011
Striking was acceptable in the 1980s, but the decade called and she wants her laboured exaggeration back, says Martin Shapland
It's time for Osborne to don tights and channel Hood
by Martin Shapland / 02 Nov 2011
It’s time for the coalition to come out fighting for a global financial transaction tax
Catgate isn't about human rights at all
by Martin Shapland / 07 Oct 2011
Catgate isn’t a row about who’s right, or whose rights, it's political bluster on the Conservative right over Europe and immigration designed to mask a system that isn't right on any level
Neither left, nor right, but Liberal
by Martin Shapland / 20 Sep 2011
Despite the dire warnings of impending implosion and attacks from both left and right, the mood at the Liberal Democrat conference is upbeat and confident
The NHS disinformation campaign
by Martin Shapland / 09 Sep 2011
It would be nice to have a grown up, well informed, political debate once in a while
A liberal line in the sand
by Martin Shapland / 02 Sep 2011
The intervention in Libya is a potential turning point for liberal Interventionism, drawing a line in the sand for relations between the west and the Middle East.
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What you call austerity is what I might call efficiency.
