August 2011
The future of the Conservative Party: Big-state Toryism
The Conservatives' dependence on the 'grey vote' and on their think tank apparatus may mean they are committed to ever increasing expenditures in future.
How social networking escalated rioting – and can bring it to justice
It is now widely understood that the rioting was in part driven by communications using social networking services. Police must act.
As Parliament is recalled, MPs must resist the temptation to legislate
Parliament is due to be recalled this week following the riots in London and elsewhere. But the Government must be careful not to rush to legislative solutions.
Speculation can wait: The priority is to stop the rioting
There is an understandable rush to speculation about the causes of the riots and many theories – sensible and ludicrous – are already in circulation. But speculation, as tempting as it is, is not what is needed now. What is needed now is for the disturbances to stop.
Hopes of an export and manufacturing-led recovery recede
Today’s economic data releases from the Office for National Statistics – on trade and production – show that rebalancing of the UK economy has gone into reverse.
Western economies are heading for the rocks, but no-one’s at the helm
The neo-liberal project to shrink the state---although driven by the right and accepted even by parts of the centre-left---is starting to bite hard. Even the financial markets are worried that the so-called debt crisis cannot be solved unless there is growth.