Making a # out of intelligence

Arguments between advocates of social media regulation and open rights campaigners lack adequate legal or ethical foundations, writes Demos’s Carl Miller.

Alexander criticises overly optimistic private sector growth hopes

Shadow work and pensions secretary Douglas Alexander gave a speech to Demos today in which he acknowledged Labour’s mistakes in communicating their response to the recession and criticised Conservative attempts to portray the opposition as hoping for a double dip recession. He explained that Labour had made the right decisions during the economic crisis by preventing a recession from becoming a depression.

Conspiracy theories are an issue progressives can no longer ignore

Conspiracy theories are often dismissed as the humorous, yet mainly harmless preserve of a lunatic ‘whacky’ fringe. Bizarre they can be, but they are no laughing matter. They are a serious, widespread and influential cultural habit, and in certain social contexts they can be harmful.