Green Politics
Tackling climate change requires a just transition to a low carbon economy
When he was environment secretary, David Miliband asserted that only Labour could tackle climate change. He argued that this was because only Labour recognised the need to intervene in markets. The Conservatives’ instincts, he said, would always pre-dispose them to solutions that stopped short of the measures necessary to set our economy on the route towards a low carbon, sustainable future. This, of course, was after the Stern report which had said that climate change was the greatest market failure the world had ever seen.
Two nation Conservatism: VAT rise hits North harder than South
A new report shows the Governments rise in VAT could hit not only the poor, but also the middle class heavily, with some areas being particularly drastically hit.
Economic forecasts reveal high degree of uncertainty
Worries about a ‘double dip’ recession in the UK have faded in recent weeks. But recent forecasts reveal how much uncertainty there is about the economic outlook right now.
Daily Mail echoes UK Uncut campaign against tax avoidance
Following a successful weekend of demonstrations, the Daily Mail has joined the UK Uncut tax avoidance campaign. Alex Brummer writes today about the "exploitation of rules" by corporations.
Labour must speak out against discriminatory pay for foreign seafarers
Ruwan Subasinghe, a lawyer at the International Transport Workers' Federation, on the need for Labour to speak out to end discriminatory pay for seafarers.
Creative destruction – a 21st century progressive growth story
What will drive long-term growth in the UK economy? With the growth White Paper now kicked into the long grass, it looks as if the Government doesn’t have an answer to this question, at least not now. At the same time, since the New Labour boom years ended in financial bust, the centre-left also needs a new story. There is much talk of the need for green growth, and ‘rebalancing’ the economy away from finance, often towards manufacturing, but no overall narrative on what will be the motor of growth after the crisis.