Yesterday former environment secretary Owen Paterson told Business for Britain his EU views. On the premise that the Eurozone will inevitably require greater integration until it becomes one effective country, Paterson argues the status quo is not an option: we will either be strong-armed into the Euro, or ‘they will leave us’. Bearing this in… [Read More]
Emily Thornberry has been sacked as a Labour shadow minister because she was a snob, but it’s not just that she feels socially superior to ‘white van man’, she also feels morally superior. Moreover, it’s not just her. She embodies the mindset of the Westminster elite that has sparked the recent rebellion against the mainstream… [Read More]
Ukip, as expected, have now gained their second MP in the Rochester and Strood by-election that took place yesterday. Former Tory MP Mark Reckless, who triggered the vote by defecting to Ukip, won the election by 2,920 votes; this wasn’t as high a margin as predicted, but it still managed to deal a massive blow… [Read More]
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is worrying. The opacity of its procedures and unequal representation in its pre-negotiation stages (520 meetings with business lobbyists as compared with only 26 with public interests groups) has led to concerns regarding possible weakened European product safety standards, reduced environmental protection laws, and job losses. Proponents emphasise… [Read More]
When David Cameron ran for election in 2010, the only positive message his campaign carried among austerity warnings was the pledge to bolster the third sector, the Big Society. That idea was ridiculed at the time, but constituted an optimistic narrative in what was a depressing election. The Big Society petered out soon after the… [Read More]
At the G20 meeting this weekend, David Cameron promised to reinvigorate European commitment to completing the Transatlantic Trade and investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade deal with the USA. Specifically, Cameron pledged to put ‘rocket boosters’ on the deal. This blog, and many others, have voiced criticisms of TTIP, noting that it raises serious questions… [Read More]
This week’s government shambles over the European Arrest Warrant, in which David Cameron denied MPs the vote he had previously promised, should make us even more wary of Cameron’s Europe policy and this promised referendum on our EU membership. The European Arrest Warrant, just like our relationship with Europe, has its advantages and disadvantages. It… [Read More]
After a bumpy weekend for Labour leader Ed Miliband there will be ever-more soul searching for the party as to why it still fails to gain traction, let alone momentum, in these crucial months. The Observer reported that there were 20 shadow ministers ready to call on him to quit this weekend, following recent polling.… [Read More]
Yesterday it emerged that Greencore is to recruit 300 Hungarians to work in its Northampton sandwich factory. The company makes fresh lunches for M&S, Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s and is opening a £35m new facility in 2016. They advertised jobs in the UK first, but quickly turned to central Europeans for labour after it became… [Read More]
“Five Giants” threatening the wellbeing of society were identified by William Beveridge in 1942 as being “giants of too little”; want, disease, squalor, ignorance and idleness. These, he proposed, were to be vanquished by the improved education, housing and health services offered by a post-war welfare state. However, according to Julian Le Grand, some new… [Read More]