Blog
'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
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
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
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
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
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
Why economics is UKIP's Achilles' heel
by Nick Tyrone / 26 Apr 2013 12:54
I’ll admit off the bat that the article that follows is an odd one: I’m about to offer a political party advice that I hope to God they ignore. Nigel Farage and UKIP have been in the headlines a great deal of late, from the Guardian discussing Nigel Farage's saloon bar insurgency to the Telegraph publishing Farage’s declaration that UKIP could have its first MP within months.
So the question is, is UKIP
Parliament needs more gays. Get over it!
by Anoosh Chakelian / 26 Apr 2013 11:48
The workplace, where you go to work, learn, live, and occasionally love, was in the spotlight this morning at LGBT charity Stonewall’s annual Workplace Conference, as shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper gave a frank speech about the overwhelming need for “celebration of diversity” in the workplace.
Her speech refused “tolerance” and “respect” as the ultimate goal to achieve in attitudes towards gay people in the workplace – where 800,000 have witnessed physical homophobic bullying in
MP calls for inquiry into apparent misuse of welfare figures
by Sheila Gilmore MP / 25 Apr 2013 17:15
In recent months I’ve become increasingly concerned about the use of statistics on benefits claimed by disabled people, both by Ministers and the press. As some of you will have read, I complained to the Sunday Telegraph last month when they suggested that 900,000 people on Incapacity Benefit had dropped their claim rather than undergo a medical assessment for the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
The true figure was a mere 19,000.
Does Wales want a referendum, or just tax control?
by Hywel Nelson / 23 Apr 2013 16:51
Last weekend, Danny Alexander promised he’d deliver a Welsh referendum on giving the Assembly tax-varying powers.
But do politicians in Cardiff Bay want a referendum – or the power to raise or lower tax?
In 2011, all four major Welsh parties supported a Yes vote in a further powers referendum that passed comfortably. But this one could be a tougher sell – the question would essentially be ‘can we tax you more if we want
Will councils threaten the 'bedroom tax'?
by Hywel Nelson / 22 Apr 2013 16:34
Some campaigners believe the tightening up of benefits for households with spare rooms could set the stage for 1980s-style battles between Westminster and town halls.
Councils have an important role to play in implementing the ‘bedroom tax’ – they must identify households with spare bedrooms and then collect the extra rent for them. Opponents have asked councils to re-designate spare rooms as studies or refuse to evict people who can’t meet the higher rents.
Tanya Murat,
Hague should take note of the Arab Spring aftermath
by Ruth Walker-Grice / 22 Apr 2013 11:06
When the Arab Spring erupted in 2011 we all watched with curiosity and wonder. We heard with horror that a Tunisian man burnt himself alive in protest, and then with bated breath as the uprisings spread from one man’s flames to cover much of the Middle East and North Africa. Two years on and it feels like a distant memory, yet the Arab world has been moving on and seen significant changes. The recent G8
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"The prime minister has said he does not believe that statutory legislation is necessary to achieve the principles outlined by Leveson."
