Guest
Margaret Thatcher’s legacy was to ingrain a north-south divide in our body politic
When visiting a factory in Wallsend in 1985, Margaret Thatcher famously turned on a reporter who challenged her over her impact on the region (with unemployment standing at 20 per cent at that time). She replied that the correct response was to highlight success stories "not always standing there as moaning Minnies".
Royal Mail is part of the fabric of the nation – we don’t want to see it ripped apart
It is highly likely that the government will begin the privatisation of Royal Mail later this year. Along with a sell off comes the real threat of stamp prices hitting £1. Price regulation on most stamps was scrapped to boost its attractiveness to investors. It is also quite possible that Royal Mail’s VAT exemption will become unlawful. Add VAT to just one price increase similar to the last one and the first class stamp would hit 94p.
Is it any wonder, with our news media, that Paris Brown has opinions like this?
Ah, the Daily Mail. One of Britain's most popular and well read newspapers which in the past has seen fit to victimise those on benefits, transsexuals, homosexuals, asylum seekers, migrants and many more, now finds itself spitting venom at someone who isn't even legally an adult.
Cyprus, the communists and anti-European populism
We know the drill now. A eurozone member finds itself in dire financial straits. A cabal of finance ministers, European officials, domestic technocrats and global financiers pushes the stricken national government towards severe public spending cuts and tax rises. The social unrest caused by these policies bleeds into some form of populism, be it left-orientated (Syriza in Greece; 15M in Spain), right-orientated (Golden Dawn in Greece) or somewhere in the fuzzy middle (Beppe Grillo in Italy).
Tories living in the land where the Magic Job Tree grows alongside the Magic Money Tree
This policy will only work in the land where the Magic Job Tree grows alongside the Magic Money Tree that ensures all such jobs are well paid. And that only exists in the head of some policy wonks in Tory think tanks.
The political establishment’s poor use of evidence on immigration
Since the Eastleigh by-election immigration has consistently been in the news, with all three parties making significant policy interventions. Each party seems to be trying to outdo each other with rhetoric on how they’re going to crack down on migrants abusing public services, how immigration is out of control and how they don't believe the official estimates and forecasts.