Author Archives: David Gray

David Gray

Stop the Birmingham busking ban

By David Gray | Sat 19th July 2025 - 10:30 am

To say that Birmingham City Council is facing a number of challenges at the moment would be an understatement. A combination of savage cuts to their central funding, a failed IT system, and the equal pay case which is still yet to be sorted, has left them bankrupt. The bin strikes have left rubbish piling up in the streets. One would imagine that the council has rather more important things to be focusing on than ensuring the complete eradication of street performers from the city centre.

Yet this is what us buskers currently face. Three years ago, we campaigned without success against their plans to ban all busking within specific areas of the city, due to what the council described as a ‘high volume’ of complaints (though a freedom of information request later revealed that, in one of the two affected areas, 77 of the 80 recorded complaints had come from the same person). One of our arguments at the time was that this partial ban would lead to displacement of any issues rather than a resolution, and sure enough, they have now claimed that they are receiving more complaints across the rest of the city centre. The proposed solution? To ban all busking from the entirety of the city centre.

The scope of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) that they have proposed defies belief. Despite being assured during the introduction of PSPOs that they ‘would not be used against buskers where they are not causing anti-social behaviour’, the proposals in their current form would make it an offence for anyone to busk in the city centre, regardless of whether they themselves were causing any problems. And these proposals are likely to pass unless individual councillors take notice of what they will be voting for.

In my capacity as a director of Keep Streets Live, and a regular busker in Birmingham and its surrounding areas, I contacted every single councillor to attempt to facilitate dialogue and discussion. I have heard back from one of them, who simply said she would ‘look into it’. The council have not spoken personally with any busker, instead relying on the Environmental Health Department, who came up with the proposals in the first place. Their remit is to reduce noise complaints; there is no incentive for this department to protect artists or to promote cultural offerings.

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David Gray

How do we deal with this epidemic of Nazi salutes?

By David Gray | Sat 22nd February 2025 - 11:43 am

Steve Bannon has become the latest high profile political figure to give a fascist salute, with this one coming during the increasingly extreme CPAC convention.

I suspect that if a decade ago, you told someone that we would be having a debate on whether or not this is acceptable, you would have been met with incredulity, yet here we are. Of course, it all originated from Elon Musk. And if this had been an isolated incident, followed by a swift apology, then I could probably accept it. Perhaps I am being generous, but I honestly don’t believe Musk deliberately gave that salute – I believe he is a physically awkward individual who got carried away and performed a gesture that is, unfortunately, pretty much an exact replica of a fascist salute. Any reasonable person, on having this pointed out to them, would apologise immediately and pledge to be more careful in future.

But Musk, who seems determined to build his entire public persona around trolling his political foes (and I use the word ‘trolling’ very deliberately – most of his views are derived from internet memes and viral content with scant regard for factual accuracy), is not a reasonable person. Instead, he gave the impression of finding the furore it caused rather funny. In a more sensible political age, his supporters would have been keen not to shine a light on this most injudicious of actions, but we are so politically polarised now that they felt they had to not just back him but copy him. It reminds me of one of the very few true statements to have been uttered by Donald Trump – that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and (he) wouldn’t lose any voters”. Although ostensibly joking, there was sadly more truth in this than perhaps even he realised. The same is now broadly true of Elon Musk.

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David Gray

Ofsted reports shouldn’t be reduced to a single word

By David Gray | Sat 27th April 2024 - 12:15 pm

The government’s decision to ignore a cross party committee’s recommendation to abolish one-word Ofsted judgements is the wrong one.

The pressure that school leaders and teachers feel in relation to Ofsted inspectors is huge. And it is not just those two days in which the inspectors are physically in the school; the intensity of being on ‘red alert’ for an imminent inspection can be just as bad – if not worse – than the inspection itself, not least because that period of time can last months if not years. The tragic death of Ruth Perry was a dreadful yet timely reminder of the stress placed on school leaders, and while legislation made in response to a single specific incident is rarely good legislation, this is hardly a new issue.

For schools in areas where competition is high, the difference between ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ can be perceived as huge in terms of attracting applications from prospective students. But in reality, the actual difference on the ground can be very little, if anything at all. One school leader told me that their school, which had been judged as outstanding for a number of years, was downgraded to ‘good’, despite receiving an outstanding grade on the majority of Ofsted’s criteria. The narrative of the actual report was almost unwaveringly positive and in many cases glowing. Of course, to the outside eye, the school had declined since its last inspection, when in reality it had maintained, if not improved on, its excellent standards. One of the sections in the report hailed the school’s highly impressive arts department, with plenty of extra-curricular drama and music opportunities on offer for the pupils. However, these do not fit particularly well into the rigidity of Ofsted’s marking criteria. Off the record, inspectors suggested that, had the school ‘played the game’ of chasing specific progress measures, they would probably have avoided being inspected and thus remained ‘outstanding’.

And here is the problem with the single-word judgements. It can only be based on very limited criteria, and this will rarely reflect the broad spectrum of curricular and extra-curricular options available at a school.

One of the main arguments put forward in favour of single-word judgements is that it makes things simpler for parents. This is debatable, but even if true, it is both patronising and misleading. Although not a parent myself, I know from speaking to those close to me who do have young children that schooling is one of their biggest priorities. It is something that parents think about before they even become parents. So to suggest that they may not have the time or inclination to read a few pages worth of information on local schools in the area is bizarre.

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David Gray

Prosecuting the Lowery photo football ‘fan’ sets a dangerous precedent

By David Gray | Sun 19th November 2023 - 10:30 am

Football fans across the country were rightly appalled by pictures of two Sheffield Wednesday fans appearing to use the image of a young cancer victim to mock their opponents. One imagines that if, as seems likely, they both receive lengthy bans from all football grounds in the country, few tears will be shed. Certainly not from the Lowery family, who have acted with dignity throughout.

However, the ramifications have gone further than this. The pair were both arrested, and the man holding up the image has been charged with a public order offence and sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, in addition to 200 hours of community service.

It’s not the first time that football fans have been prosecuted for similarly vile behaviour. Earlier this year, a Man United fan was fined £1000 for wearing a shirt mocking victims of the Hillsborough disaster, while a Plymouth fan was fined £750 for claiming on Twitter that their striker was “on fire like Mick Philpott’s house”.

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David Gray

Act now to prevent the death of cash

By David Gray | Fri 28th July 2023 - 2:08 pm

I recently returned from Scandinavia, where I busked my way around for a few weeks. I spend a lot of my time travelling in this way – often around half the year. This time, I’d planned my trip around various Bruce Springsteen gigs that were occurring in the area – a tactic that had worked wonderfully well in other countries.

Scandinavia, though, is now one of the toughest busking destinations in the world. I’ve made easily more money in Peru and Bolivia than I did in Norway. The reason is nothing to do with a lack of generosity (I was last there in 2016 and did very well indeed), but the almost total elimination of cash from their societies.

The UK is not far behind. A recent report suggests that the number of cash transactions amounted to 10% of all payments in 2022, down from 27% in 2019. This is still higher than the 4% in Sweden and Norway, but the downwards trend should give us pause for thought.

Few would suggest that these figures indicate a need to restrict card/contactless payments. To do so would be to inconvenience people for no obvious benefit. But it is vital that politicians act to protect cash before it is too late. In the example of Norway, the law stating that it is illegal to refuse cash as a payment method has been widely flouted, and only very recently have lawmakers stepped in to strengthen it. But this has been done too late. We should act now before we get to a similar point.

It is understandable that many will wonder why this is necessary, or claim that the death of cash is simply an inevitable indicator of progress, and I am aware that as a professional street musician, I have ulterior motives for championing its survival that may not be thought to be particularly important. However, the destruction of busking as a form of work is not the only effect that a cashless society would cause (at this point I should say that I’m aware buskers, including myself, can and do accept contactless payments, but these do not go anywhere close to replacing the amounts earned through cash, for reasons that would take another entire article, so please do take my word for it!).

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David Gray

Public Spaces Protection Orders are out of control

By David Gray | Mon 15th August 2022 - 2:17 pm

On Monday 15th August, a new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) will come into force in Birmingham, banning all busking from two of the most profitable locations in the city. There are a number of councils around the country who have introduced restrictions on busking using PSPOs, but Birmingham City Council’s decision to introduce a blanket ban on busking in these areas, whether or not they are acting reasonably and considerately, is unusual.

Despite assurances from Shirley Williams during the introduction of the PSPO as a tool to clamp down on anti-social behaviour that “they (PSPOs) should not use the new powers to stop reasonable activities such as busking or other forms of street entertainment that are not causing anti-social behaviour”, these rules are being flouted up and down the country. Why? Because there are no mechanisms in place to stop them.

The case of the Birmingham Busking Ban is particularly egregious. A Freedom of Information Request released during the consultation period showed that, of the 81 complaints received by the council about busking in the two areas specified, 77 were from the same individual. He is well known in the area as someone who has a track record of verbal aggression towards the city’s street entertainers, particularly the young female ones.

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David Gray

The right to online anonymity must be protected

By David Gray | Thu 21st October 2021 - 9:59 am

There are plenty of lessons to be learnt from the horrific killing of David Amess. People are right to call for a less divisive tone to political debate; Brendan Cox’s article was particularly moving in its calls for more civility and understanding between opposing political sides. Part of this may well be more enforcement against online abuse, and perhaps pressuring social media companies to act faster when it comes to people using those platforms to threaten others. These things will be debated in time and rightly so.

Emotions are running high and there is an understandable desire to create a legislative legacy for Mr Amess. Jo Cox’s death prompted the creation of organisations such as More in Common, which works towards creating more united societies. Close friends of Amess seem keen to stress his focus on ending online abuse, and are rightly raising this as an issue that should be amplified in the light of his death.

But we must tread very carefully in the next few weeks.

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David Gray

Our public highways are under threat

By David Gray | Wed 23rd June 2021 - 11:53 am

As restrictions are gradually eased, it is heartening to see our public spaces once again being filled with shoppers, cafe-goers and those who just want to make the most of being able to socialise freely again. This should also prompt us to have a serious look at the value we place on our public spaces, for if we do not act soon, we could lose them without realising until it is too late.

A small but growing number of commentators and activists are drawing our attention to increased use of pseudo-public spaces – that is, those which to all intents and purposes appear to be public spaces but are in fact privately managed and owned. Vast swathes of Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham (as well as many more) are under private ownership, but this is no longer an issue confined to big cities. Devastated by years of austerity, councils have been selling off land at alarming rates to private corporations and as a busker, this is more obvious to me than most. With the number of busking pitches available on genuinely public land reducing, it is now very difficult to make a living without busking on publicly accessible private land. It is not just in the large metropolises – I have faced attempts to move me on in Didcot, Stourbridge, Redditch and countless others. They will never try to argue that I am causing any genuine problems – simply that ‘management don’t allow it’.

I will almost always stand my ground, pointing out that, not only does a specific section of public highways law allow for privately owned land to act as a de jure public highway in many instances, but also that with trespass being a civil offence, there needs to be some evidence of harm being caused in order to compel me to leave. Where there is no material harm, I see no reason to leave. Usually, the security guards hired by these private corporations give up and let me continue. They’ve even, on one occasion, returned to buy a CD from me. But if they dig in, problems can occur, which has led to me being arrested for ‘breach of the peace’ in 3 different locations. In all of these instances, the police have admitted that I was not actually breaching the peace, nor did they have any evidence that I was likely to. But for a breach of the peace arrest, none of this is actually required. All that is required is for the police officer to believe that a breach of the peace may occur. Note that it is not legally relevant who will be causing that breach. The last time this happened, officers in Birmingham accepted my argument that they were effectively arresting me because, if I didn’t leave, the security guards might initiate a physical altercation.

Two new proposed laws threaten to escalate this to a worrying extent. One is Priti Patel’s much-publicised policing bill, which has rightly been the subject of mass protests. For me, it is almost laughable to see her argue that existing powers regarding Public Order are not strong enough, given my experiences of being arrested under the very laws that apparently do not give the police enough power.

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David Gray

I spent over four hours in a cell for busking during lockdown – that was wrong

By David Gray | Tue 12th January 2021 - 11:45 am

The increasing polarisation of politics across the globe is concerning for many reasons. The storming of the Capitol felt like a defining moment in this trend, while our government’s hollow pleading for the nation to unite over their shoddy Brexit deal has done nothing to bring opposing sides together. One area where this polarisation is becoming increasingly worrying is over Covid-19 measures. The world is not made up of Covid-denying conspiracy theorists and authoritarian-loving lockdown fanatics, but whenever a debate crops up, the position you take on that debate will inevitably see you lumped into one of those categories.

Most people accept that the temporary suspension of some liberties is a tragic necessity. But scrutiny has never been more important. John Harris’ excellent Guardian article goes into this at some length, so I will add the dimension of my own experience to this.

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David Gray

The new BBC guidelines are a threat to a healthy democracy

By David Gray | Fri 30th October 2020 - 11:49 am

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The BBC faces criticism from people across the political spectrum for perceived bias. The left accuse it of being full of Conservative Oxbridge graduates; the right accuse it of being stuffed with do-gooding lefties. Remain voters shame it for giving Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson a disproportionate voice; Leave voters are convinced that its coverage verged on making it a campaigning tool for Remain. On the whole, this suggests that the BBC gets it broadly correct. I myself feel it leans too much towards a sort of moderate conservatism, but then as a proud liberal leftie myself, I suppose that’s only natural.

The question of what exactly can be considered political is an interesting one. On the face of it, introducing new rules to ensure political impartiality in an era when it has never been easier to inform the world of your views makes perfect sense. But the reality of this, and the extent of Tim Davies’ new rules, are nothing short of a chilling attempt to placate a government that wants to be set free from the constraints of scrutiny and criticism.

Perhaps most headline-grabbing of these guidelines is the ban on BBC journalists attending LGBTQ+ marches, on the grounds that it is a ‘controversial’ issue. It is shocking that in 2020, supporting equal rights for LGBTQ+ people is considered controversial. That in itself is a political statement, and a phenomenally illiberal one.

Then consider how inappropriate it is that a white, Cambridge-educated male who has previously stood as a Conservative councillor is telling his staff that they can’t attend Black Lives Matter demonstrations or express their support for the movement. That is arguably more of a political statement than allowing staff the freedom to express their opinions in a personal capacity. I’m sure that sixty years ago, expressing support for the civil rights movement in America would have been considered controversial. Two hundred years ago, opposing the slave trade might have been seen as overly woke, hand-wringing liberal nonsense.

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David Gray

We must listen to the teachers’ unions

By David Gray | Fri 15th May 2020 - 7:02 pm

We should all be watching carefully the dispute that is bubbling at the moment between the teaching unions and the government. It could very easily set a precedent for how the rest of us are treated when it comes to workplace protections against COVID-19.

When Boris Johnson addressed the nation last Sunday, informing us of the new rules in a way that he alone could have imagined was significantly clearer than the hue of mud, the onus was delicately and deliberately placed on employees rather than employers:

Work from home if you can, but you should go to work if you can’t.

 

Think how different this is to what he ought to have said: “If your employees can’t work from home, employers must adapt their working environments to the new Covid-secure standards.”

Yet instead of this, we were given the woolly assurance that, “we have been working to establish new guidance for employers”.

And here is where we come to teachers. The academisation of the education sector means that schools are now run for profit. A Local Education Authority can set minimum standards across their region and co-ordinate efforts to ensure that schools are safe. An academy chain, motivated by little other than exam results and quantifiable progress, can much more easily set their own standards.

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David Gray

Covid-19: Radical economic measures must be considered

By David Gray | Fri 20th March 2020 - 11:00 am

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As a freelance musician and actor, I have seen and spoken to a lot of self-employed colleagues and friends recently about their fears regarding Covid-19. Obviously the number one priority must be the health and well-being of the general public, but the government must also consider how best to protect its citizens and businesses from financial ruin.

The measures announced to protect small and medium-sized businesses will hopefully help to prevent firms from closing (though for many even this will be too late, and I know of several that have already folded), but protection for the self-employed – an estimated 6 million people – is still a glaring omission.

The introduction of ESA claims being made available to the self-employed who are advised to self-isolate is, on the face of it, very welcome. However, without wishing to look this particular gift horse in the mouth, it does not address the root of the problem. A one-off payment of less than £100 for a week of self-isolation will do very little to help those who have lost thousands of pounds worth of work and do not know when bookings and contracts will pick up again.

I have spoken to people who work as entertainers in care homes who now face cancelled bookings with no compensation; musicians who have had to abandon entire tours; actors who have had  several months’ worth of work put on hold indefinitely, perhaps permanently. Even a dentist who, despite working for the NHS, counts as self-employed and is therefore not entitled to sick pay.

Covid-19 is likely to cause a significant number of deaths, but these could be outstripped by deaths caused by economic hardship, unemployment and increased levels of homelessness that we are bound to see in the coming months. As expected, it turns out the ‘flexible workforce’ that has long been advocated by conservatives (both small and large ‘c’) is a one-way street, proving resolutely inflexible for workers trapped in it. It seems likely that Britain’s patchwork, deunionised gig economy will soon be exposed in the harshest of ways.

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David Gray

We need to talk about Public Space Protection Orders

By David Gray | Tue 20th August 2019 - 2:30 pm

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Five years ago, a rather dull-sounding law was introduced by Theresa May’s Home Office called the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. It passed relatively easily through parliament and was presented as a more effective way of taking enforcement against anti-social behaviour.

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David Gray

A second Remain campaign must learn from its mistakes

By David Gray | Tue 19th February 2019 - 12:46 pm

If recent news reports are to be believed, a consensus on how best to achieve a second referendum is coming together. Vote through Theresa May’s deal on the proviso that it is put to the people first, with Remain an option on the ballot paper. There are many hurdles to jump over before then, not least convincing a reluctant Labour leadership to whip its MPs into voting for it. In preparation for the possibility, those campaigning on the Remain side should be gearing up for it, and we must learnt the lessons of the 2016 vote.

Firstly, it is vital to accept that a lot of people are going to be very angry about this. That is understandable. Their right to protest peacefully about a second referendum must be respected, upheld and admired.

Secondly, remainers should be careful about the way in which they speak about their opponents, and I refer here to both the politicians and the electorate as a whole. No patronising, no tarring leavers with the same brush as Nigel Farage and no condescension. It doesn’t help; it doesn’t address the valid concerns that people have about the EU; more importantly, it is a guaranteed vote-winner for the leave campaign.

Thirdly, it can’t be a negative campaign based on the horrors of the outcome of a leave vote. Facts and forecasts are important and should play a role, but there is a positive emotional case to be made and it must be heard. I want to hear more from the nurses from other EU countries, without whom the NHS wouldn’t function. I want to see more about UK citizens who have gone to live in other countries and made a success of it. I want to hear about small businesses that have made enduring partnerships with other businesses on the European mainland. I want to hear stories of friendships and relationships that have come about as a result of our ability to travel the EU with no restrictions. Positive stories that extol the virtues of freedom of movement and of free trade with our neighbours are going to have a far wider impact than graphs that predict economic doom if we were to leave. However accurate these may be, they should be used as evidence to back up the emotional arguments, rather than the main thrust of the campaign. If you’ve been trapped in low paid work (or indeed no work at all) for many years and you feel that the economic odds are stacked against you, then being told by someone who is clearly very well-off that you shouldn’t vote to leave the EU because it will damage the economy is not going to ring true. If a healthy economy is seen as only benefitting those at the top, then a campaign based on scare tactics will not work with the vast majority of the electorate.

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David Gray

My proposal for a successful Brexit

By David Gray | Tue 5th December 2017 - 8:31 am

Having voted courageously to take back control of our nation and regain our sovereignty, it has been incredibly frustrating to see our elected representatives over-complicating the process of Brexit and not putting Britain’s interests first. I have heard much from Theresa May and her team about how difficult it all is; less about the opportunities that Brexit presents for us as a nation. So let’s break down the stumbling blocks one by one, and look at how the governement should be approaching them.

Firstly, the Irish question. The Leave campaign always stressed that there was no need for a hard border in Ireland. I can see why there are some issues to be resolved here, but no one wants border checks, which is why I would propose an agreement that goods can be brought from Ireland into the UK, or vice versa, without any restrictions. Of course, as Ireland already has an agreement with the EU, this would automatically mean that there would be no need for customs checks for going in an out of any other EU country, thus reducing red tape and showing that, despite Brexit, Britain is open for business!

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David Gray

The post-truth era is here – what does it mean?

By David Gray | Mon 28th November 2016 - 12:32 pm

 

We’ve been hearing a lot recently about the ‘post-truth‘ era and what that means for the world. Generally, this is framed as meaning that the truth doesn’t matter any more; that it is becoming easier, and perhaps fully acceptable, for politicians to lie and get away with it. But I have started to wonder: what if it’s worse than that? What if the post-truth era means that people now deny the very existence of truth?

The roots of this lie in resentment towards politics as a whole. People have always dismissed politicians as ‘all a bunch of liars/crooks’, but it’s arguably become more commonplace to do so since the global recession hit. The natural progression from this is that you get to a point where the truth doesn’t matter. You start to draw a false equivalency between all politicians, painting them all as equally bad as each other, when in reality there are many good politicians as well as shades of grey within the bad ones. The US Presidential election is the obvious example here.

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David Gray

We must hold back on military action against ISIS

By David Gray | Thu 19th November 2015 - 10:15 am

Even in a world in which we see tragedy every day on the news, one where twenty four hour coverage of the many battles currently raging in different corners of the globe makes it easy to become numb to humanitarian disaster, the Paris attacks last week were shocking. Amongst the heartening displays of solidarity and defiance, people are angry, and rightly so. Those who committed the attacks displayed such a level of callous cruelty that it is completely understandable that many across Europe want revenge against patrons of the twisted ideology that leads people to carry out such horrific acts.

Now, however, is not the time to act on this anger. Emotions are running far too high for sensible decisions about foreign policy to be made. It is not heartless or unpatriotic to point this out, and of course we all want to see an end to ISIS, but the growing pressure on the British government to join the bombing campaign in Syria must be resisted. For now, anyway.

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David Gray

Opinion: On voting reform, the Lib Dems must seek an ally in UKIP

By David Gray | Thu 14th May 2015 - 4:27 pm

Voting reform has been a key Lib Dem issue for many years now. It’s not necessarily primary concern of the average voter, but the way in which we choose who governs us is one of the most important aspects of democracy and cannot be dismissed.

The latest election has provided us with a stark display of why a more proportional system is vital for Britain’s future. Those determined to protect that status quo will point to the referendum in 2011 and claim that the British public has already rejected reform, but this is nonsense. AV may be fairer than FPTP, but it was ultimately a fudge, and no more proportional than the current system. We’ve never been allowed a vote on whether we want PR.

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Opinion: We shouldn’t talk about soldiers ‘giving’ their lives in WW1

By David Gray | Tue 5th August 2014 - 9:16 am

ww1Much of the news recently has focused on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. Rightly so, too. It changed the course of history and approximately sixteen million people died during it.

But there is something that sits very uneasily with me about the way it has been covered. When discussing it, many will refer to how many people ‘gave their lives’ during the conflict. ‘Giving’ is a selfless deed, and it is one that is done voluntarily. One shouldn’t have to ‘give’ out of obligation, nor as a result of being misled. It is here that I have a problem with this phrase. Did those millions of people on both sides of the war really believe that the loss of their life was justified in the grander scheme of things? Did they, in their final moments, feel a sense of patriotic pride in having done something wonderful for their country? Or would they have cursed the futility of mass loss of life on such an unfathomable scale? It is difficult to say for sure, but we can all hazard our own guesses.

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David Gray

Opinion: Sending more weapons to the Middle East is not the answer

By David Gray | Tue 17th June 2014 - 2:11 pm

iraqIt is truly saddening to read of recent events in Iraq. Seeing the horrific images that have been all over the media for the last few days, it is impossible for your heart not to go out to the millions of people in the region who have suffered for many years at the hands of oppressive governments, violent rebels and misguided Western intervention.

It is therefore maddening to see politicians in both the US and the UK suggesting that we should assist them with military aid including both troops on the …

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David Gray

Opinion: In every conflict, there is always more than one side to the story

By David Gray | Tue 25th March 2014 - 9:24 am

Protests in UkraineIt is always tempting to view the world in black and white. When Good is pitted against Evil, who in their right minds would want Evil to succeed? We can all happily unite behind Good and therefore feel Good about that ourselves.

Sadly, the world isn’t like this. This may seem like an outrageously obvious statement, but it is not intended to be patronising. Reactions from various politicians to recent events have given the impression that many political conflicts are indeed black and white.

When the Arab Spring began over 3 …

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David Gray

Opinion: Do you love this country?

By David Gray | Fri 6th December 2013 - 12:14 pm

One question asked by the Home Affairs Select Committee to Alan Rusbridger over the Snowden leaks should be of great concern to us all. During the often heated exchanges, Keith Vaz asked:

Do you love this country?

If we were told that in, for example, Russia, a committee of MPs were grilling a newspaper editor over his patriotic credentials, we would rightly condemn it as a worrying level of state pressure on the press. Just what were Vaz’s intentions behind that question? Would it have been held against Rusbridger if he had said ‘no’? We can only speculate. But, whether or …

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David Gray

Opinion: Which side are we on?

By David Gray | Tue 26th November 2013 - 8:53 am

RBS logoAllegations have recently come to light that RBS engaged in a programme of ‘deliberately wrecking small businesses’ in order to seize their assets on the cheap and boost their own profits. The case is another story in which we, the public, are shocked but not surprised. The response of the government and, in particular, Vince Cable will be watched very closely indeed.

It is interesting to view this story in the light of other recent events.

Take the sale of a student loans book to an investment consortium at a price …

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David Gray

Opinion: Vince Cable is right to question the wisdom of Help-to-Buy

By David Gray | Fri 13th September 2013 - 2:03 pm

Rocks Green LudlowAll policies have winners and losers. The inevitable consequence of policy-making is that some people in the country must lose out; it is the Government who must decide who this will be when they are passing laws. Which is why, on the surface, few scrutinised George Osborne’s help-to-buy scheme when it was introduced in the form of an Equity Loan in April of this year. The idea of giving people help to buy new build homes is one that has no immediate losers. But in the long run, we will all pay the price.

The housing market has crashed before, and it will crash again if house prices go back the days of increasing at an alarming rate. It is not a sustainable model and it is one that contributed heavily to the UK staying in recession for longer than most. The worrying thing is that Osborne is ignoring this recent history for short-term political gain. Booming house prices are frequently reported in the media as being ‘healthy’, whereas the reality is anything but. The reality is mortgages that will take a lifetime to pay off, placing a huge burden of debt on an entire generation.

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David Gray

Opinion: Even if this is the end of our ‘Special Relationship’, there is no need to mourn its passing

By David Gray | Tue 3rd September 2013 - 2:10 pm

cameron-obama-hot-dogIt’s that old classic love story. Boy meets Girl. Boy and Girl become infatuated with one another. Boy leads Girl into a series of illegal wars in the Middle East. You know the rest. (In the interests of gender equality, I should point out that you are more than welcome to switch around the genders in this analogy.)

But now, this one sided relationship has a new twist. Girl has said no to the Boy’s latest attempts to lead her into another bombing campaign, and Boy is angry. Boy storms out, and …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 18 Comments
David Gray

Opinion: We need urgent debate about Syria, not just rhetoric

By David Gray | Tue 27th August 2013 - 8:55 am

If recent news reports are to be believed, we are now edging closer and closer some form of military conflict with Syria. It is a fast moving situation; indeed, one that could escalate drastically within a matter of days. But with MPs on their summer holidays, there has been a worrying lack of proper debate about the issue.

A few months ago, an 87-year-old woman died and Parliament was recalled so that people could talk about it, at no small expense to the taxpayer. I have no wish to go through that particular debate again, but it is difficult to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 68 Comments
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