Labour’s Scottish failure: The lessons must be learnt
Matthew Pitt reports from Glasgow on the aftermath of Labour’s disastrous showing in the Scottish elections, and outlines the lessons that must be learnt.
Matt Pitt
Matt writes for Left Foot Forward on issues ranging from A to Z but takes special interest in the economy and questions surrounding Scottish separation. He recently wrote a chapter on the case for a ‘British Investment Bank’ in the book ‘What Next for Labour’ and now works as a Parliamentary Assistant for William Bain MP (Labour, Glasgow North East).
Osborne’s raid on UK households
Matthew Pitt reports on the latest economic blunder from chancellor George Osborne.
Libya: What is the endgame?
Amidst mixed messages from government ministers, there is an urgent need for clarity on the endgame in Libya, writes Matthew Pitt.
After months of denial, an admission flood defences face massive cuts
After months of denial over the spending cuts on flood defences, the government has now revealed what most have known for a long time. Instead of the capital investment for flood defence spending for 2011/12 being, as David Cameron claimed, “roughly the same as what was spent over the past four years”, it has now been acknowledged by the government that funding would actually face an extraordinary 27 per cent cut.
Osborne’s u-turns on regulation and bonuses enough to make your head spin
On bankers’ bonuses alone, George Osborne’s constant changes of direction since becoming shadow chancellor in 2005 would be enough to make anyone’s head spin.
Oldham by-election: Who has the most to lose?
In our current imperfect form of representative democracy, voters on occasion have the opportunity to let their voices be heard via the ballot box in by-elections in between general elections. Instead of the opposition, by-elections are notoriously all about rewarding,test
Can Cancun deliver?
Are Chris Huhne’s bold claims about the outcome of Cancun justified, or will history, in the words of the Bolivian ambassador to the UN, judge it harshly.
Who’s misleading whom?
The tuition fee row will hit its peak tonight, after which students across England will have to face up to the fact they will pay fees amounting to £27,000.
Lack of resources and preparation create perfect storm for snow chaos
Instead of the Opposition asking questions, Philip Hammond, the transport secretary himself has today ironically demanded answers as to why Britain has been crippled to such an extent by snow and ice, and has consequently announced an official inquiry.
Cornwall floods will be more frequent and severe following cuts to defences
The overnight flooding in Cornwall, which police have called a “major incident”, was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions today. Mr Cameron described it as “a very difficult night” (though thankfully there are no reports of any casualties), praised the police and coastal services for doing a “fantastic job” and said the government “stand ready to help in any way that we can”.