No, Labour will not survive another split
In today’s Observer, there is a long article by former Labour stragegist (now a London headteacher) Peter Hyman in which he claims that the current Labour party is a party of “pacifism, republicanism and...
Category: Politics
Propaganda is not care
I saw a graphic that was presented next to an article for childminders on how to teach ‘British values’, as now required by the government, and the schools inspectorate Ofsted (which also governs children’s...
Sympathy for Tania Clarence shows disablist attitudes
In April 2014, Tania Clarence smothered three of her four children, Olivia, Ben and Max, all of whom had spinal muscular atrophy type 2 (SMA2), at the family home in New Malden (see earlier...
You were warned
I rarely watch Question Time, the late-night show on BBC1 in which an audience gets to ask questions of a panel of politicians and journalists, because it's on too late (I usually start work...
On Jeremy Corbyn and those nukes
Last week Jeremy Corbyn, the new Labour leader, said in an interview that if he were Prime Minister, he would not use nuclear weapons under any circumstances, which provoked a storm of controversy with...
No, meat is not murder (and other reflections on Corbyn)
Last week it was revealed (or we were reminded) that the new shadow cabinet member for agriculture and the environment, Kerry McCarthy, was a vegan who gave an interview with the vegan magazine Viva!Life,...
Fear-free healthcare, revisited
Back in 2012, I published on this site a manifesto of sorts, calling for healthcare in the UK to be free of fear. Back then I was heavily involved in ME activism and three...
Why does Amnesty need a policy on prostitution?
Last week, Amnesty International adopted a policy supporting the decriminalisation of the sex trade after a debate in which it was subjected to intense lobbying from two groups of feminists (amid renewed mud-slinging between...
On Jeremy Corbyn: no, it’s not about purity
The Labour Party are currently holding their leadership election following the resignation of Ed Miliband after he lost the general election in May. The four candidates are Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall, Yvette Cooper and...
Anti-FGM crusade brings out the busybodies
The crusade against FGM is out of control – Spectator Blogs Brendan O'Neill wrote the above article on the incident reported recently in the British press, in which Baroness Jenny Tonge took a flight...
Price tags on medication: why it’s a stupid, callous idea
Yesterday the government announced that labels on drugs prescribed by the NHS in England that cost over £20 will have the cost printed on them along with the words “funded by the UK taxpayer”....
Review: Kids in Crisis
Kids in Crisis was a programme about children with severe mental health problems in the UK who are being transferred a long way from home, sometimes hundreds of miles, because there is no inpatient...
Who’s sorry?
NHS staff told to say 'I am sorry' to patients for medical blunders | Society | The Guardian Recently the health blogosphere and Twitter has been buzzing with talk of NHS managers' and other...
Magna Carta: the baby steps
Right now there are celebrations going on in Surrey and Berkshire to mark the 800th anniversary of the passing of Magna Carta, the charter sealed by King John that established the rule of law...
Andy Burnham: an uninspiring, Tory-lite shop-minder
Labour warning by Andy Burnham – You will not win if workshy have an 'easy ride' | Western Daily Press Last week I got a letter printed in the New Statesman, in response to...
National Service? If I hear it again I’ll go Spare!
So, in today's Telegraph there's an interview with Prince Harry (right), who is set to leave the Army next month after ten years of service, in which he calls for the return of National...
Picking up the pieces from Thursday’s disaster
As anyone who reads the news will know, last Thursday there was a general election here and on Friday morning we learned that the Tories had gained an absolute majority of the seats, which...
So who’s a mensch, then? And who cares?
Today the Sun put that picture of Ed Miliband trying to eat a bacon butty and getting it all down his shirt, suggesting that if he can't even eat without making a mess, he'll...
Word from the local Lib Dem office
Earlier today I left a message on the local Lib Dem constituency office’s answerphone, as our MP, who is defending his seat, is the Lib Dem Energy secretary Edward Davey. I asked him what...
Lib Dems must understand why they are hated
As I think I've said here in the past, I live in a Lib Dem constituency — specifically, Ed Davey's constituency, Kingston and Surbiton, a constituency where the only main challenger is a Tory...