- FRONT PAGE
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BLOGS
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Melanie Ward
:Tax Dodging and Global Poverty: What the G8 Must Deliver
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Rob Atkinson
:'Loadsamoney' Cameron in 'Tasteless and Ignorant Flash Git' Row
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Douglas Alexander
:The G8 Summit - A Great Moment for Britain, A Great Test for the Prime Minister
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Dr Ion Jinga
:Romanians in the UK
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Mike Ion
:Ed Miliband and the Politics of Optimism
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Ed Miliband is fast approaching the time when, as Leader, he will need to ensure that the Labour party addresses its own progressive deficit, to be clearer about who we are, who we were and whom we want to become
I sense some will not have the stomach for this kind of confrontational, take-no-prisoners politics, but leftist division and passivity during the 1980s was precisely what gave rise to Thatcher and allowed her to unleash her 'anarchy of the ruling classes' on us all.
Following outrage over expenses and the recent allegations of cash for questions, the need for change is urgent. Citizens feel let down by a whole range of formerly great British institutions whether it's the newspaper industry, the Church or the BBC.
The real challenge for Labour is to defend its heritage. The welfare state is under attack like never before, and fighting for real rights is the key to its defence.
Chris Grayling might not have a problem with G4S justice. He, Cameron, Osborne and the rest of them may well think that anyone who has reached the age of criminal responsibility without earning enough to hire their own silk is to be presumed a member of the criminal classes. But Dominic Grieve should know better.
The Labour Party leadership's embrace of welfare reform - set out in Ed Miliband's recent keynote speech on welfare to a select audience in Newham, East London - marks a victory for the right and describes another benchmark in the political degeneration of the party that created the welfare state.
Labour should be offering a clear and radical alternative to Tory despair and division. An alternative that inspires people to believe a Labour government could and will repair the serious damage being done to our communities and our economy by the Tory ideologues.
Stripped of their Burmese citizenship in 1982 and subjected to shockingly discriminatory laws and practices, the minority Muslim Rohingya community in Burma has been described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
David Cameron does not have far to look for inspiration. The Ukip's surge and retrospectives of Margaret Thatcher remind us there is a populist tradition on the right of British politics that wins elections. And it is most ingrained on the right of the country.
The Conservative party looks ready to split. The modernising 'Cameroons' and Europhiles have been drifting apart from the Europhobic and traditionalist right of the party for some time. This backbench rump has now earned itself a name: 'Swivel-eyed loons'.
I just got back from visiting IRC programmes in Kenya. It was an inspiring and in some ways harrowing visit. The country is the heart of East Africa: when Somalia or (South) Sudan is unstable, Kenya feels the impact, and when Kenya is struggling, it impacts the rest of the sub region... The refugees I talked to spoke of fighting in disputed lands on the South Sudan/Sudan border, and long term violence against the Nuba people.
On Monday Ed Balls is expected to deliver a major speech setting out Labour's case on the economy ahead of George Osborne's spending review next month.
As the Tories engage in intra-Party bloodletting, Labour remains quiet and at least outwardly behind Miliband. All politicians know that electorates do not reward split Parties. The Tories are scared. Meanwhile there's Ed Miliband, Labour leader now and into the 2015 General election. I'd advise those laughing at him to wise up.
For political reasons, Jeremy Hunt has turned this whole issue into a crisis of primary care. The trouble is he has a real crisis in A&E that isn't going away - and the measures he is proposing won't solve it, as the advice from NHS England makes clear. In fact, by focusing his department's attention on the wrong target, he could make matters even worse.
The problem for Miliband, and indeed anyone else looking to crack down on corporate tax avoidance, is that the world has changed. On this issue, the politicians are chasing the rampant forces of capitalism, and they appear powerless at the foot of the economic tornado.
The choices we make will begin to determine whether we have a responsible capitalism or an irresponsible one. The events of the past three weeks have only served to underline how distant and distracted David Cameron, not to mention his divided party, has become from addressing these issues.
