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We speak to Sunny Hundal, editor of left-liberal website, Liberal Conspiracy

Ed Stradling's exclusive mini-documentary on what he finds to be the dangers of legal aid reform proposals. Includes interviews with human rights and criminal barrister John Cooper QC and shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan.

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Europe: The tail that's wagging the dog

by Justin Cash / 20 May 2013 09:38

Now we’ve all had a chance to reflect on UKIP’s local election triumphs, it seems the one thing that commentators across the board have been able to agree on is that Farage's success reflects an elevated wave of euroscepticism among the British population. What to do about EU membership has, as a direct consequence, become one of the most important debates in modern politics, one that has caused no end of confusion in Tory ranks.

But

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The Gove-rnment agenda

by Justin Cash / 17 May 2013 10:10

Last night’s Keith Joseph memorial lecture, hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank in the City’s plush Guildhall Old Library, started with the education secretary being described by CPS chairman Maurice Saatchi as a “prime minister in waiting.”

Gove was an appropriate choice for the annual lecture in memory of CPS co-founder Joseph. He shares the same cabinet position Joseph held for the lion’s share of his time in office, and holds Margaret Thatcher, Joseph’s CPS

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Blue collar Tory: Oxymoron or obvious choice?

by Justin Cash / 14 May 2013 12:09

It was standing room only in Portcullis House last night as a fifty strong contingent featuring some of the Tory Party’s best and brightest met to discuss an issue that plagues British conservatism: the need to appeal more to the blue collar voter.

The idea of the blue collar voter is itself somewhat nebulous. It was variously described throughout the evening as the ‘working class’, the ‘manual labourer’ and the ‘self-made man’. They are not privately

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'Equality is important but not sufficient', Peter Tatchell

by Justin Cash / 09 May 2013 11:54

Justin Cash: Are you worried about a lurch to the right after the rise of UKIP in local elections?

Peter Tatchell: There’s a worrying lurch to the right already happening. Instead of just explaining and refuting UKIP policies, the big three parties seem intent on remastering their agendas to fit with UKIP’s ideology. Nigel Farage is calling the shots, which means that his party’s bizarre policies are not being exposed in the way they should

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Queen's speech: Coalition demolition?

by Justin Cash / 08 May 2013 10:05

Today, in the formal start to the parliamentary year, the Queen will set out the government’s legislative agenda for the coming 12 months. It’s a significant moment in the political calendar made all the more salient after both the Tories and Lib Dems received a drubbing in local elections at the hands of UKIP last week. The coalition partners have had time to digest these results and also to contemplate a lurch to the right

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Local elections: Why we still don't know how they look

by Justin Cash / 02 May 2013 09:25

Today, residents of 34 authorities across England and one Welsh county will cast their votes in local elections. We all expect the Conservatives to haemorrhage seats, right?

Well, maybe not. The result of the latest ComRes poll conducted interviews in the regions of England set to vote this time round gives the Conservatives a seven percentage point lead over Labour, 31 to 24.

Compare this with national polling that, on average, puts Labour ahead by around

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Jon Ashworth MP Teaches First

by Jon Ashworth MP / 30 Apr 2013 11:04

According to a report published by the Department for Education in January this year, only a third of pupils who receive free school meals will achieve five or more A*-C grades in their GCSEs. In contrast, 63 per cent of those not on free school meals achieve the same results.

It was this that made me want to take part in the Teach First ‘Every Child Can’ campaign.

Teach First trains people with leadership potential

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Politician's Husband browses Total Politics

by Justin Cash / 29 Apr 2013 12:18

Total Politics had a little taste of stardom this week after a cameo appearance on BBC drama The Politician’s Husband. Turns out David Tennant ‘s stellar performance as downtrodden former Business Secretary Aiden Hoynes is matched only by his choice of political news; after receiving a public scolding for his attacks on the prime minister, Tennant can be seen here checking the damage to his reputation on our very own blog.

In the treacherous world

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Local elections: Battle of the broadcasts

by Hywel Nelson / 29 Apr 2013 11:13

It’s been a sad week for fans of party political broadcasts. Then again, the lives of party political broadcast fans are probably pretty bleak generally.

A court in Strasbourg decided last Monday – by a knife-edge nine-against-eight margin – that Britain can keep its strict rules against political broadcasting. An animal welfare group had challenged current restrictions as an affront to free speech.

If just one of the judges had switched their stance, the effect

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