Lindsey oil refinery: workers of the world unite?
REHASHING a 1970s National Front slogan represents a particularly crass attempt at triangulation, even by New Labour standards. But that is precisely what Gordon Brown was doing when he dropped the ‘British jobs for British workers’ soundbite into his 2007 conference speech. Unsurprisingly, the words are now being quoted back to the prime minister in [...]
Northern Ireland ‘recognition payments’: whose lives are worth £12,000?
I CANNOT imagine what sum of money could possibly make up for permanent blindness in one eye. But where someone suffers that outcome as a result of a workplace accident, compensation is set at a minimum of £31,500, plus an additional sum for loss of earnings. The court may even decide on a further amount, [...]
Mandelson’s car industry plan: the case for joined up Keynesianism
IF YOU want one statistic that neatly summarises the impact of the credit crunch on the non-banking classes, try this one; the number of new car sales in Britain last month was down 47.5% on December 2007. Few people can stump up the money to buy a vehicle without access to finance, and loans are [...]
How New Labour should deal with Truscott, Moonie, Snape and Taylor
YOU RENT an MP like you rent a taxi, or so disgraced Tory lobbyist Ian Greer reportedly assured Mohamed al Fayed, anyway. It now looks like you can hire a peer in pretty much the same way. And to extend the metaphor just a little, Lords Truscott, Moonie, Snape and Taylor of Blackburn have given [...]
Britain in recession: time to debate ideological basics
AT BOTTOM, the argument between the guys that quote Hayek and the guys that quote Marx is simple enough. It centres on capitalism’s ability to offer the things that people who very sensibly do not give a toss about ideology – and that’s the vast majority of the public, of course – seem most to [...]
Up to a point, Lord Lebedev
IS IT just me, or have recent decades witnessed a sharp drop in the average quality of national newspaper proprietors in this country? The great press barons of the early and mid twentieth century – out and out rightwingers, one and all – were important political players, as every standard history of the period testifies. [...]
RBS after Fred the Shred: some lessons for Labour
FRED the Shred had to work damn hard to secure that nickname. In the heady years of mergers and acquisitions seen in the early part of this decade, it took a lot of effort to stand out from the chief executive crowd when it came to giving people the chop. But Fred Goodwin – the [...]
Why is the left press so crashingly dull?
I HAVE in the past worked for Tribune and Red Pepper, and written for New Statesman and the Morning Star. For the sake of sentiment alone, I naturally wish all of these fine publications well. But in truth, these days not even nostalgia combined with a vague sense of duty can motivate me to read [...]
Heathrow doesn’t need a third runway
LET’S not be hypocritical here; like most Londoners who go on holiday, take weekend breaks, and sometimes travel for work, I do use Heathrow from time to time. Not when I can possibly avoid it, though. I prefer Eurostar for meetings in Brussels and Paris, and as I live only a short bus ride from [...]
