Author Archives: Henry Vann

Henry Vann

Question: Big or small government? Answer: effective

By Henry Vann | Fri 27th January 2012 - 3:00 pm

One prominent member of Liberal Youth hits the nail on the head when she says ‘ frankly sick of all this I’m a social liberal so I’m a better Lib Dem; no it’s Orange Bookers that are real Lib Dems… we’re in the same party ffs.’

And the contrasting Economist correspondent missed the target by a mile when he wrote – following our last conference – that ‘the Liberal Democrats are still in denial about their innate dividedness.’

You see according to this correspondent – quoted again in The Week – he has had a brilliant insight: ‘You cannot be both for, and against, the Big State.’ But whilst his truism is logically …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 8 Comments
Henry Vann

Opinion: a worse government

By Henry Vann | Fri 27th August 2010 - 1:29 pm

What would a minority Conservative government look like?

It is now widely accepted, by Jack Straw among many others, that a coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats would, sadly, have been unworkable.

The numbers didn’t add up, we suffered real difficulty – whichever account you believe – negotiating with Labour, and there was the ever-present threat of nationalist lobbying.

So the alternative was a Conservative minority government.

And what would this government have been able to pass through parliament with the support of the next biggest party Labour? What policies would be implemented by a minority Conservative government with Labour’s blessing?

Academies. This is …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 34 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • John Barrett
    A few millionaires have been quoted as receiving the winter fuel allowance, such as Richard Branson, who pays no UK income tax, and Alan Sugar, who was forced t...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Ellyott, "Whatever the flat rate ends up at, it will be lower than the current base rate and thus fair" I doubt we'll ever agree on what may ...
  • Ellyott
    Whatever the flat rate ends up at, it will be lower than the current base rate and thus fair. The use of terms such and progressive, and regressive illustrates...
  • Joe Bourke
    Currently, public spending in the UK is in excess of £1.2 trillion i.e. circa 45/46% of total national income. Receipts from taxes and other sources are around...
  • James Fowler
    Behind all the white noise there are a couple of salient points. The % growth in state pension has conspicuously exceeded that of public sector incomes and a...