Left Foot Forward: Leading the UK's progressive debate

NIESR: Economy grew 0.8% in Q3 – but underlying picture remains weak

9 October, 2012

NIESR’s latest monthly estimates of GDP show the UK economy emerging from recession in Q3 2012 – up 0.8%; the underlying rate of growth, however, is weaker.

Con 2012: Boris exaggerates his record and ignores the facts. Again

9 October, 2012

Len Duvall AM, leader of the Labour group on the London Assembly, responds to Boris Johnson’s 2012 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Ban Ki-moon urges Assad to declare truce as army “cleanse” villages around Homs

Shamik Das

9 October, 2012

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Syrian regime to declare a truce forthwith and bring an end to the conflict that has killed at least 20,000.

The Scottish Tories’ “Mitt Romney moment”?

Ed Jacobs

9 October, 2012

The SNP attack Lab, Labour attack the Toriesm and the Tories attack themselves – another typical day in the life of Scottish Politics, reports Ed Jacobs.

IMF reassessment a massive boost for Ed Balls’s 5-point plan for growth

Cormac Hollingsworth

9 October, 2012

Last night’s IMF reassessment on the UK economy is a massive boost for Ed Balls’s 5-point plan for growth, writes Cormac Hollingsworth.

IMF: Cuts hurt growth more than expected

Will Straw

9 October, 2012

The IMF thinks cuts have damaged growth more than previously thought, reports Will Straw.

Comment: Labour, Venezuela, and the strange tale of “official observation”

8 October, 2012

Rob Marchant looks at just how free and fair the recent elections in Venezuela (won by Hugo Chavez) were, and how impartial the “election observers” were.