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Starmer’s Labour must embrace community power to create its own vision for levelling up
Society is facing challenges on multiple fronts. The last time this country faced comparable challenges it was emerging from the Second World War, and it was Clement Attlee’s Labour government that was tasked with finding the answers. Today’s Labour leader – Sir Keir Starmer – rightly recognised this in his speech in Birmingham to begin…
Read MoreMaking Private Equity Work for a Progressive Britain
Overleverage, short-termism and asset stripping must be countered with progressive policies Wielding record levels of cash, US private equity (PE) firms are bargain hunting in Britain, buying up more companies in the first six months of 2021 than ever before. The Conservatives champion ‘Global Britain’, however, they allow our assets to be sold to extractive…
Read MoreCould the Corbyn party win in North London?
Could Jeremy Corbyn win as an independent? Or will he just serve as a distraction to the fight against the Tories? The Daily Telegraph reports that Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour MP for Islington North, is contemplating starting a new far-left political party using the resources of the ‘Peace and Justice Project’ which celebrates its…
Read MoreR.E.S.P.E.C.T. (find out what it means for Labour.)
He’s less glamourous. He’s certainly quieter. But last month, a new voice gave Aretha a run for her money by calling for a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t. The people of Germany listened. Olaf Scholz, Germany’s new Social Democrat Chancellor and leader of a new governing coalition, defied expectations with his methodical and managerial approach to win power…
Read MoreMomentum says ‘stay and sulk’ — we say ‘stay and fight’
Latest momentum briefing reveals the widespread chaos and confusion on the hard left Congratulations to Helen Morgan, emphatic victor in the North Shropshire by-election. The electorate’s revulsion at government hypocrisy was matched only by their sophistication in how to best register their protest. As in Eastbourne over Thatcher and poll tax, or Newbury, Eastleigh and Christchurch…
Read MoreWelfare reform: giving back to the people who have paid in
Labour can tackle both political and economic challenges through contributory welfare I am confident that most people who have knocked on a door in an election campaign and had a discussion turn to benefits or pensions, will have spoken to a voter who has said something like: – “I have paid into the system all my…
Read MoreThe Rise and Fall of Johnsonism
Johnsonism has been a hard target for Labour to directly attack, but there are now signs that it is struggling. Labour has a chance to present a vision of the Britain where things aren’t “just about OK” What is Johnsonism? Following Rishi Sunak’s Budget, plenty of commentators felt they knew. The Chancellor had decided to…
Read MoreBritain must stop betraying refugees
The news yesterday of twenty-nine refugees drowning while trying to cross the Channel off Calais, in inflatable dinghies, to Britain, made me feel numb. It made me think of the victims, their hopes, and their last moments of struggle, and of their families who will never hear from them. But the feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to…
Read MoreBudget 21: Productivity politics
Yesterday was a far bigger budget than many in the know had expected. Analysis about what it all means for the economy is still trickling though from the Resolution Foundation, IFS and others as I write. On the day, there’s very little economics to be talked about as nobody really knows what’s happening until they’ve…
Read More‘Please Prime Minister, can we have some more?’
While the Prime Minister has made ‘levelling up’ the centrepiece of his post-Brexit agenda, The Financial Times’ Robert Shrimsley described Mr Johnson’s recent speech to the Conservative Party Conference as “all destination, no plan?” We have, as the PM put it, “one of the most imbalanced societies and lop-sided economies of all the richer countries”. No world beating status here…
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