Which party has won the most council by-elections since the May 2025 local elections?
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Latest Posts
Does Britain really want to be associated with Belarus on human rights?
According to yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, under a future Conservative government Britain would pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Mail implies that such a move would allow Britain to deport foreign criminals without fear of being censored for breach their human rights. There are a number of problems with this position.
Patients likely to lose out in independent Scotland
If Scotland achieves independence from the UK, patients north of the border requiring specialist surgery elsewhere in the UK could have to go through the same process as if they were travelling to a European Union state, leading, some argue, to delays in treatment and medical costs having to be paid by the patient.
Modest redistribution of wealth would give £40 a month boost to lowest paid
A modest redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom would give a pay rise of £40 a month to the lowest paid 25 per cent of the income scale, according to a new report from the High Pay Centre.
The government has less control over its finances than politicians pretend
Some have expressed bemusement at my claim in an earlier post that the only genuine deficit reduction policies are those which stimulate private sector investment and/or reduce their savings. I should expand.
February worst month for construction since October 2009
UK construction sector had its worst month in February since October 2009, according to new data from Markit/CIPS. New work has fallen for the ninth consecutive month, the report says, and February data pointed toward a sharper slide, with thetest
Right to Buy relies on several mistaken assumptions
A recent article on Conservative Home bemoaning the fact that the reinvigorated Right-to-Buy policy has not taken off and suggesting a further raising of the discount deserves challenging by the reality-based policy community.
Just three EU countries saw bigger drop in living standards than UK in past two years
Just three out of 27 EU countries saw bigger fall in living standards than the UK in past two years since George Osborne’s autumn 2010 spending review.
Osborne’s credibility is in tatters
Figures published last week showed a shock contraction in manufacturing which rounded off another dire week for the UK economy and signalled yet more misery for ordinary working families at the hands of government austerity.
Keynes’s ghost continues to haunt George Osborne
That George Osborne should hail the loss of the UK’s AAA credit rating as evidence that yet more of the same cuts and austerity are needed is an alarming example of Orwellian “doublethink.” What is needed is Keynesian government pump priming, to fill the potholes, build houses, improve local rail networks (not HS2), invest in renewable energy sources etc, and so create employment, restore growth, increase tax revenues, eliminate the current deficit and bequeath to future generations a spanking economic infrastructure and a healthy society.
Why are South African police mimicking white supremacists?
The sickening killing of 27 year old Mido Macia in South Africa this week brought to mind the white supremacist murders in the US which amounted to ‘lynchings’. This, together with the recent high profile rape and murder of Anene Booysen – and even the Oscar Pistorius case – point to a latent violence in the country that the government seems reluctant to tackle.