This November marks the one hundred years since the Labour Party became the official opposition to the Tories for the first time. The 1922 general election delivered 142 Labour MPs, as the Liberals split into two, never to form a government again. I’ve written a longer essay on it here. JR
Our country has faced a productivity slowdown at a level not seen for the last 250 years. This slowdown impacts living standards, investment in public services, and paints a bleak outlook for the level of future tax revenues the Government will be able to spend. Historically, UK productivity growth has
Our everyday lives, wealth and security rely on the tiniest of things – semiconductors. These microchips are essential components in our healthcare, communications including phones and tablets, appliances, computing, clean energy, transport, military and defence systems. You might be surprised to learn though that despite the ubiquity of these technologies
With economic crisis and war in Ukraine, there is a danger that adult social care will not be top of the agenda of new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. But overlooking social care would be a mistake. Any incumbent or aspiring government seeking to address issues of inequality and growth needs
50 years ago this year, in 1972, my father and tens of thousands of Ugandan Asians were ordered to leave Uganda by the brutal dictator Idi Amin. In a chilling interview, the journalist Richard Lindley asked “what will happen to these people if they don’t go?” Amin replied, “I think
Is the government the prisoner of the market? Labour looks more likely to form a government than any time since leaving office in 2010. If there was an election tomorrow, depending on the poll, the Party could come to power with as much an 150 seat majority. This is exciting
Self-employment and entrepreneurship have traditionally been claimed by the political right, but the truth is, the Tories have long ceased to be the party of business, unless of course it’s their mate’s business and there’s a PPE contract involved. In particular they have abandoned small businesses – failing to listen
On the eve of last year’s conference in Brighton, there was a Queen on the throne, a Johnson in Downing Street, and few had heard of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Now, as we gather in Liverpool, the political landscape that Keir Starmer surveys is changed utterly. As he rehearses his big speech in
As we head to my hometown for Labour conference this week, it is time for all of us to stop being so tolerant of our time in opposition. Here’s why: Liz Truss thinks she is the new Margaret Thatcher, or at least, wants to dress up like her. But 12 years
When the public believes the government can’t be trusted to make their family better off the opposition is given a golden chance to win the next election. Our current economic crisis, coming after a decade of stagnation, means that Labour now has an opportunity to win. But victory is not
