Author Archives: Peter Lesniak

Peter Lesniak

Opinion: Iran v. West – breaking the deadlock

By Peter Lesniak | Thu 7th June 2012 - 5:58 pm

George Bernard Shaw used to say that political necessities sometime turn out to be political mistakes. As things stand in ongoing negotiations between the West and Iran, this seems to be the parallel for what is going to happen in yet another round of talks later this month in Russia. Let us consider the current balance of actions.

Iranian Religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his recent appearance publically accused West of fabricating information about Iran’s nuclear progress to cover up its own problems. In the same speech he warned that Israeli military action against his country will me bet with …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Peter Lesniak

Opinion: The United Kingdom of Benefits and Welfare Dependence

By Peter Lesniak | Sun 13th November 2011 - 2:45 pm

In the absence of law and order, human life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” according to Thomas Hobbes. We would then live in the ‘state of nature’ with unlimited freedoms and unlimited chaos. To avoid this, civil society has subjected some of its rights to a sovereign, through what Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau call a ‘social contract’. The idea of subjecting part of our freedoms in return for security and welfare has been developed in late 17th and early 18th century and has served as a basis for creation of current political ideology.

Centuries passed and political systems …

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Posted in Op-eds | 67 Comments
Peter Lesniak

Opinion: Filling the political vacuum

By Peter Lesniak | Thu 18th August 2011 - 11:54 am

Young people’s attitude towards political and public affairs has recently been less than promising, to say the least. The majority of six-form students do not know how the political system in this country works, and seem to have no willingness to engage and vote for their future. Luckily, not all hope has been lost. A new initiative has been launched which aims to narrow the gap between young people and their involvement in politics.

Bite the Ballot is a grassroots campaign created by and for young people with the aim to inspire and encourage others to engage and be part …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 3 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Chloe
    'Needless to say the poorest in British society paid the price for this' I remember canvassing , the poorer the area the less interested they were. Membership ...
  • GWYN WILLIAMS
    A balanced and fair assessment of the Senedd campaign. Unlike in Scotland, Wales has not as yet polarised into for and against Independence camps. The Welsh Lib...
  • Jana
    The logic of this article is that we should be rejoining the Single Market. That is different from signing up to complete political Union by joining the EU. ...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    Good piece, Tom. I would just split it into two things 1/ The principle: someone living off their assets should not pay less tax than someone living off a wage...
  • Iain Donaldson
    Matt, I think my article actually agrees with parts of what you are saying. In particular, I accept that housing policy operates over long timescales and that l...