Guest
Commonwealth progress but more reform is needed
While some progress is being made on LGBT rights in the Commonwealth, it is painfully slow. More reform is needed urgently. Nearly 80 per cent of the 54 Commonwealth countries still criminalise homosexuality, with penalties ranging up to life imprisonment for consenting same-sex behaviour between adults in private.
The coalition has already abandoned the Child Poverty Act
Yesterday on the pages of this blog, Stewart Lansley claimed that I had "hurled a hand grenade" into the poverty debate by urging Labour to rethink its approach to child poverty. Leaving aside the hyperbole of that statement, Lansley's case seems to be that my intervention "chimes with the line being taken by the coalition" in its attempts to redefine child poverty and its causes. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In place of fear: It’s time to tackle alarming health inequalities
In Place of Fear, the title of Aneurin Bevan’s book published on the 10th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, is synonymous with all that the welfare state stood for and what it sought to achieve. In 2013, as the principles of Bevan and Beveridge are being killed off, the belief that inequalities should narrow is also under attack.
As Obama hosts the Burmese President, he must address the regime’s dreadful human rights record
Setting aside the ethics of this approach - which is unlikely to be altered anytime soon - the US can still afford to get tough with Burma without losing purchase over the Burmese government.
Poverty: The 2010 consensus in tatters
Dropping the child poverty target would mean accepting a level of poverty much higher than almost all countries of comparable wealth.
UKIP’s populism could present a greater threat to the left than the right
If I feel a sense of déjà vu as I watch UKIP’s rise today, just imagine the view from Crosby’s chair at Conservative Party HQ. David Cameron’s election strategist hasn't just seen this film before - he's already written the script.