Category Archives: Op-eds

Johnny McDermott

Drawing in a mirror – Merlyn’s torment

By Johnny McDermott | Thu 19th March 2020 - 12:25 pm

TH White’s story of King Arthur is unconstrained by the traditional myths. He reinvents the world of round tables completely, influenced by the horrors and futility of war.

His Merlyn, and the way in which he experiences time, is a mind-bending concept that has fascinated me since childhood. Scholars of the work debate aspects, but roughly, he began his existence at the end of time, and moves backwards to the beginning. Thus he knows outcomes but has little power to change them:

… one gets confused with time… gets muddled… if you know what’s going to happen to people, but not what has happened to them, it makes it difficult to prevent it happening… Like drawing in a mirror. (The Sword and the Stone, 1938)

It is a very difficult plot device to wrap one’s head around, and in the end it is not clear it works coherently. The theme remains unblemished: you can know the outcomes, perhaps not by supernatural means but say forecasting and the opinions of experts; you can tell people what this means for them, what is going to happen; but you cannot hope to persuade them if you do not know what has happened to them.

We are a party that has a clear diversity problem. I have no figures, but responses to these posts them to be from the same class of people. People like me. I have some experience of what I thereafter called the real world, but am under no illusions that, although I may have lived amongst men with less privilege, I did not become one of them. How can we hope to change minds when we do not properly understand how those minds form? How those deep divisions entrenched? We have our own trenches to dismantle, if we are to have any hope of affecting positive change in power (presumably by sharing it). Assumptions about Brexiteers and their beliefs, their capabilities and education, their backgrounds and true grievances, have made it impossible for us to spell out what we clearly see to be impending doom.

Thinking of Merlyn’s tormented journey backwards through time, led me to question our approach to winning the argument. I find wisdom in his words, but he offers no solution. I believe the point is to recognise that we cannot hope to control the actions of others. Applied to our political situation, we cannot hope to control the setting within which we try to win the argument. Views are entrenched, and we must investigate how they became so in an impartial manner, if we ever hope to alter them. We must learn what happened, before we can figure out what we should propose is going to happen.

Continue reading »
4 Comments

Why the Lib Dems need to lead the charge for #EmergencyUBI

By Mark Henderson | Thu 19th March 2020 - 10:20 am

Embed from Getty Images

Here in Hull, where I’m a Liberal Democrat Councillor, I was proud that in January we moved a motion that, with unanimous support called on the Government to run the first UK pilot of Universal Basic Income (UBI). This would see every person receive a fixed amount of money to free them from financial insecurity – protecting the most vulnerable in society.

It’s safe to say much has changed since January, but the issue of Universal Basic Income is more important than ever before. The Corvid-19 virus has plunged our nation into chaos and shown how financial insecurity through the nation is rife. We have a duty as a progressive party that champions freedom to act.

I was delighted that one of our leadership hopefuls Layla Moran backed our cause in Hull to the hills and even more so that she has recently written to the Government calling for an emergency UBI.

Liberal Democrats up and down the country should be championing this policy especially given its clear advantages in times of crisis.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 22 Comments
Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Doing the shopping

By Mary Reid | Wed 18th March 2020 - 5:06 pm

Embed from Getty Images

You can find previous Isolation diaries here.

The very first time I placed an online food order I wanted a pack of mushrooms. But I clearly misunderstood how these things work, because what I received was one large paper bag containing one very small mushroom.

I’m the cook in my family, and I don’t usually do the food shopping online because I always enjoy walking around the supermarket, spotting new products and picking up ideas.

But a week ago I set up a new online account. Placing the order was a doddle because they already knew all my shopping habits via my loyalty card. But when I got to the checkout I discovered that the earliest delivery slot was over a week away.

Fortunately we had a few days to prepare for going into self-isolation, so I was able to get in essentials from the convenience store to tide me over – enough loo rolls for two or three weeks seems a reasonable amount.

I was a bit worried about those delivery waits so went back on the site on Monday. This time the earliest slot was 6th April. So I can quite understand why people might be buying more than usual.

By yesterday evening I had thought of a few extra items that I needed for tomorrow’s delivery, so I logged in again and started to amend my order. The site, which has been a bit wobbly throughout, crashed.  9pm is probably peak demand, so I left it and tried again this morning at 7am – still down. At the moment I really don’t know whether we will get any more shower gel this time round.

Yes I know – shortage of shower gel is a first world problem, and I can manage perfectly well without it. We seem to have a stack of unloved soap in the bathroom, anyway. But it has set off another trail of worries about whether the supermarkets will be able to cope with the increased demand for online shopping.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 30 Comments
James MacCleary

We should argue for a temporary Universal Basic Income

By James MacCleary | Wed 18th March 2020 - 2:30 pm

It is a scary time. As Covid-19 spreads across the globe, it is causing severe disruption and panic. The shift in government policy away from gambling lives on the mass infection (so-called ‘herd immunity’) to instead falling in line with most of the rest of world in attempting to slow the spread of the virus means that the likely death toll from the outbreak has fallen dramatically.

However, the impact on the economy will be enormous and will compound the significant damage already done by Brexit. Companies are already calling in the receivers, thousands of staff are being laid off or sent home unpaid, and millions of people are facing uncertainty and fear for their family’s financial future.

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged and | 33 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Helping small businesses get through Covid-19 – Pay it anyway

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th March 2020 - 11:45 am

So how is this for a random idea? I realised yesterday that I have a hair appointment on 2 April that I’m not going to be able to go to. My husband is in a high risk group. And, according to  the small print in the Public Health England guidance,  so am I.

It looks like we’ll be spending the next few weeks with as little social interaction as possible.

But our income, at least in the short term, isn’t going to be affected by this. Unfortunately, small businesses, especially independent ones face an existential threat. Hospitality and entertainment venues are going to be particularly badly affected.

Our hairdresser has been doing a great job for years. Why shouldn’t I just pay for my haircut anyway?  Same principle if you go to a restaurant that you love regularly.  Why not pay them what you would normally spend while you are sitting at home watching obscure things on Netflix or taking the party up on its offer to keep you out of mischief?  Same with the pub where you might regularly have a couple of pints a few times a week or the coffee shop where you stop for breakfast.

If your income is stable, it’s a relatively easy way to help out.

You could even think about some way to support that wonderful country hotel you love so much., or the campsite which will lose out from tourism.

Another suggestion I’ve seen is that you buy gift vouchers if possible, and look out for ways in which businesses are diversifying. Some restaurants will deliver meals. Some pubs will turn into off-licences.

It’s important to support the small, independent outlets which have served us well so that we have them when this nightmare is over.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 5 Comments
Simon Banks

A personal specification for a leader

By Simon Banks | Wed 18th March 2020 - 8:30 am

With another leadership election looming, what do we need in a leader? What’s essential and what’s merely desirable? If we don’t think clearly about these things, we’re likely to make bad choices.

We don’t have a Person Specification for the job, but maybe we should at least think that way. What would it look like?

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stay the same. At some times, the ability to inspire the activists or to gain the attention of the media is vital. At others, the activists are already inspired, and the media are listening, but keen to find weaknesses. Then judgment is crucial. So I’ve not divided the points into Essential and Desirable, as would be normal with other Person Specs. I’ve also not mentioned specific issues such as the climate emergency, though I think not choosing a leader strong on that would be unwise.

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged | 13 Comments
Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Going for a walk

By Mary Reid | Tue 17th March 2020 - 5:18 pm

We went for a walk today on Box Hill.

What? Is that allowed under the rules of self-isolation?

There are two types of self-isolation – quarantine and extreme social distancing, although the media haven’t been very helpful in distinguishing between the two.

As we all know, people should go into quarantine if they have symptoms of coronavirus or have been in contact with someone who has. Whole families are now being asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days if one member needs to. There is full advice on quarantining here.

People like us, who are vulnerable because of age, pregnancy or underlying health issues, are now also being asked to isolate for 12 weeks, but in a marginally more relaxed way. Again, advice on social distancing for vulnerable people is here.

With extreme social distancing the idea is to minimise risk, although recognising that some contact with others may be necessary, but in a controlled way.

Crucially, the guidance specifically says: “You can also go for a walk outdoors if you stay more than 2 metres from others.” So that’s what we did.  Although my other half doesn’t usually walk 2 metres away from me!

We did go in the car to get to Box Hill and took some extra precautions, such as wiping the steering wheel and gear-stick with antiseptic wipes, as well as the front door handle after we returned. And sadly we weren’t able to stop off at the cafe for hot chocolate and cake as we normally would.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 18 Comments
Michael Berwick-Gooding

Thoughts on the budget – Part 2

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Tue 17th March 2020 - 1:56 pm

Embed from Getty Images

This is the second of two articles looking at last week’s budget. The focus of this article is the action the government announced to deal with the coronavirus.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 49 Comments
Lee Howgate

Why we need to close schools

By Lee Howgate | Tue 17th March 2020 - 1:00 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Yesterday the government announced a range of measures to protect the public from the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a former Assistant Headteacher, parent and more importantly son, I am concerned that this has not extended to schools. Here’s why:

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 27 Comments
Michael Berwick-Gooding

Thoughts on the Budget – Part 1

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Tue 17th March 2020 - 9:00 am

Embed from Getty Images

This is the first of two articles looking at last week’s budget.

Looking at the headlines of the budget there is much to welcome and support:

Continue reading »
Tagged | 46 Comments
Layla Moran MP

Let’s put our values into action

By Layla Moran MP | Tue 17th March 2020 - 8:30 am

Embed from Getty Images
 

Coronavirus, covid-19 will indiscriminately impact the most vulnerable people in our communities, leaving them isolated. Today I am asking all of us, as Liberal Democrats, to put our values into action.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 8 Comments
Mary Reid

Isolation diary: Paying the newsagent

By Mary Reid | Mon 16th March 2020 - 5:07 pm

Today we have gone into self-isolation.

I live with my husband, Ian, and we have not got any coronavirus symptoms, nor have we been in contact with anyone who has, as far as we know. But Ian’s immune system is compromised so we decided a few days ago to isolate ourselves at home ‘for the duration’ (as they said in the war).

Now it may surprise those of you who know my digital credentials that we still have a daily newspaper delivered. And we’ve decided to continue with it as we like leisurely working our way through the news, reading the opinion articles and doing the crosswords and puzzles.

So the last thing I did today, before going into seclusion, was to call in at the newsagent and ask how I could pay my bill in the coming weeks. (I was oddly reminded of Pope Francis who, soon after he was announced as the new pontiff, phoned his newsagent in Buenos Aires to cancel his papers).

The manager clearly hadn’t thought about it. “You’ve got to come in to the shop,” he said.  “Can I do a bank transfer, or standing order?” “No, you’ve got to come in to the shop.”

Hmmm … I do want to support the local businesses, which are very much at risk at present. I think I will phone up every few weeks to ask what I owe and then find my old cheque book (thank goodness they still exist), write him a cheque and ask my neighbour to drop it in.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 26 Comments
Johnny McDermott

‘Keep the heid!’: Dad and the Cuban missile crisis

By Johnny McDermott | Mon 16th March 2020 - 12:25 pm

May you live in interesting times. These ‘interesting times’ we find ourselves in are frightening, doubtless. My ‘boomer’ mother admitted the restrictive measures are definitely ‘weird’, even in her lifetime. I am forced to turn to memories of my father, who better remembered far darker times.

He was born around the time of the great depression, and died around the time of our great recession. It was a life marred by personal tragedy, one in which he had, I believe, almost always felt a powerless observer. He rarely spoke of being a young boy at the edges of the blitzed area …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 15 Comments
George Kendall

Lack of humility could kill us

By George Kendall | Mon 16th March 2020 - 9:31 am

One of the most impressive threads I’ve seen on Twitter about Coronavirus is by Professor Francois Balloux, a computational/system biologist working on infectious diseases, who has spent five years in a world class ‘pandemic response modelling’ unit.

What solution did he offer?

He offered none, and that was what was so impressive.

He said that, after considerable study, he had failed to identify the best course of action, and wasn’t even sure there was an acceptable solution.

He thought a more severe wave of the pandemic in the winter is the most plausible scenario. He linked to the graph below of the deaths …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 44 Comments
Lorenzo Cherin

Lock down is not the alternative to herd immunity

By Lorenzo Cherin | Sat 14th March 2020 - 6:33 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Some think only in what is often called binary ways, left, right, black, white, male, female, rich poor, young, old, sick, well, us, them…

I see things differently. I have often put it like this: why should the answer to that which we do not like, automatically be considered to be the opposite of it? Why does it have to be, either, or, why can’t it be neither, and something more?!

Group think is herd mentality. But that is not quite herd immunity. But herd immunity, in theory or practice, is not one thing. And the government strategy is not one thing, not even if they have presented it thus. It seems like they are making it up as they go along, even if that is not the case.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 66 Comments
Harry Mayall

We are underestimating the threat of antimicrobial resistance; where is the “Clean New Deal”?

By Harry Mayall | Fri 13th March 2020 - 5:59 pm

Embed from Getty Images

It can be very soundly argued that if someone was to objectively look at the biggest issues facing humanity today then antimicrobial resistance (AMR) would be easily considered one of the greatest.

According to the World Bank, AMR is likely to cause a 1.1-3.8% fall in Global GDP by 2050, with the damage to get continuously worse in the following years. For scale, this is an economic effect potentially larger than that of the 2008 financial crisis, and also larger than some estimates of the damage that global climate change would inflict over the same time period. Let us not understate the human costs as well: the WHO estimates the death count of AMR pathogens is already 700,000 annually and will rise to 10 million by 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

These statistics are very scary and should be enough to convince anyone of the severity of the threat, which in both economic and human consequences is expected to rival climate change. Despite this, there is very little political attention given to AMR.

In the 20,000 words that make up the 2019 Liberal Democrat manifesto, there is only one mention of antimicrobial resistance, which is simply mentioned in passing as part of a policy on improving hygiene in livestock. The 2019 Conservative manifesto and the 2019 Labour manifesto both do even worse, not mentioning antimicrobial resistance a single time; they only mention offhandedly that they will spend more money to counter the threat of numerous things, including antibiotic resistance (which unlike AMR doesn’t include resistance to non-antibiotic drugs such as medications used to counter pathogens such as Malaria and Tuberculosis).

Continue reading »
Tagged | 11 Comments
Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Viral Trump

By Tom Arms | Fri 13th March 2020 - 4:00 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Up until the Second World War the United States was an isolationist country. It stayed out of the European-led  imperial carve-up to concentrate on developing its own contiguous empire. The country briefly emerged from its shell in World War, and then promptly pulled up the drawbridge, lowered the portcullis and retreated back into a continental shell protected by two ocean moats.

After World War Two, US involvement in world affairs was essential for holding off the Soviet Union and world stability. Then came Donald Trump. It was not clear at first whether the New York property mogul and his “America First” policy was an isolationist or unilateralist,  or a bit of both. Coronavirus has helped to answer the question.

But before that, it must be made clear that Donald Trump’s major concern is not America’s national interest or world stability. It is, quite simply, Donald Trump. At the moment that means winning a second White House tenancy agreement in November 2020.

That is why in the early days of coronavirus  he was keen to minimise the dangers. He had a “hunch” that it was going to be OK. People should continue going to work even if they had Covid-19 symptoms. Flu, said Trump, was more dangerous than Coronavirus. He claimed there were plenty of testing kits when his scientific experts said the opposite.

There was a purpose to these  irresponsibly dangerous and false statements:  to keep the stock market indices as high as possible.  Trump’s best chance of winning a second term is a continuation of the booming market that has marked his first three years.  Trump once famously said that if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue his supporters would still vote for him. Perhaps, but will they vote for Trump if their pensions are destroyed; meagre savings wiped out and jobs and homes lost?

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 3 Comments
David Warren

Classic Winners

By David Warren | Thu 12th March 2020 - 4:04 pm

Embed from Getty Images

It was nearly twenty years ago that a very special lady got me interested in the sport of kings by asking me to place a bet on a horse called Legal Right tipped by the Guardian columnist Marcel Berlins. It was a success and from then on I was hooked.

In the years that have followed I have improved my knowledge of the game immensely and It is around this time of year that my excitement really builds in anticipation of the start of a new flat season. The first of the four classics are run in early May and we see how the previous autumn’s two year old stars have trained on. This time around the ‘Boys in blue’ at Godolphin have a really smart prospect called Pinatubo who I am sure they are anxious to unleash. Their rivals across the sea in Ireland at Ballydoyle will have their own plans to add to their impressive haul of winners.

All that said, as with almost everything else my thoughts often turn to the politics of racing. I am afraid to say we are unlikely to find many high profile Liberals amongst the stars of the sport. Having read interviews with Frankie Dettori I can confirm that he is most definitely a Tory. Rachel Hood wife of his current employer champion trainer John Gosden applied to be Conservative candidate for West Suffolk (the Constituency that includes Newmarket) awhile back and I know from my time as a resident of Newbury that the other big racing centre Lambourn is also a true blue stronghold.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 12 Comments
Rob Davidson

From progress to freedom – the need for liberation politics

By Rob Davidson | Thu 12th March 2020 - 12:41 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Liberals around the world need to define our cause. In the absence of a clear vision of liberation politics, we are left in the vacuous, uninspiring ‘middle.’ Worse, liberalism is under open attack globally and without a clear message and strong network of messengers, it’s losing. Liberals must move away from nebulous phrases like ‘progressive’ and finally make the case for freedom.

The Conservatives are known as ‘the party of business’ and that holds up even as Johnson says “F*** business.”  Labour are known as the party of public services, of human rights and equality – even as Labour staggers through an anti-Semitism scandal.

But what does the public associate with the Liberal Democrats? More importantly, what does liberal democracy mean to people of Britain and the world?

Without a clear vision of liberation politics, our opponents on all sides have laid waste to liberalism.

Putin has declared liberalism, “obsolete” Orbán proclaims ‘illiberal democracy’ as his goal and Trump and Bolsonaro follow suit. In Britain, it is no wonder that Brexit leaders were so easily able to promote their populism as an attack on the “liberal elite.”

As I described recently, they do this with the support of a network of thinktanks, new media, pundits and bots that have normalized and promoted their agenda – including their unchallenged attacks on liberalism.

Continue reading »
10 Comments
Lorenzo Cherin

Making a drama out of a crisis? Taking the harm out of the virus!

By Lorenzo Cherin | Thu 12th March 2020 - 10:46 am

Embed from Getty Images

If we believe in anything, it is the Harm Principle of John Stuart Mill. People should be at liberty, to make their own choices, unless they do harm, to others, or to themselves, if in ways that might harm others too. The bar for the deciding of what is a harm, is set higher or lower, according to whether you are a Liberal or a Libertarian. Mill was a Liberal. He believed the state, the government, needed to exercise authority, on, for example law and order. The balance, is what is to be considered. The preamble to the constitution of this party refers to that as “between the fundamental values, of liberty, equality and community.

I have often put it this way. I am a Classical Liberal, on liberty related issues, a Social Liberal, on equality related issues, a Social Democrat, on community related issues. I am of the view that there has rarely been an issue that combines all these and more, and requires strong thinking and action, than Covid19.

I have just written an article for the Ustinov Prejudice Awareness Forum, an organisation of which I am a member and writer. The article is titled “Viral Expertise“, in which I look at greater word length and in different ways, from a more international perspective, at what I want to say here, from a UK Classical Liberal, Social Liberal and Social Democrat point of view. The importance of this issue, is such, that I would very much welcome colleagues visit the link too.

I, we, surely must subscribe to support policies that reveal and encourage, personal responsibility and public good. For all , responsible, for goodness sake, more needs to be done at home and abroad to combat this virus and act as a rehearsal for, an ongoing effort where the world performs better.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 57 Comments
George Kendall

How broad a church should the Lib Dems be?

By George Kendall | Thu 12th March 2020 - 8:39 am

The Liberal Democrats have always been a broad church. From the Ashdown-Kennedy revival to 2010, we had seats in traditional rural areas like Devon and Cornwall, as well as university towns and other more urban areas. We welcomed members too with a wide range of backgrounds and values. This followed the tradition of tolerance in the Liberal party from 1859, and with the principle of freedom of conscience championed by our constitution.

But is our broad church weakening?

In 2010, we lost many of these rural seats, and we’ve struggled to recover them following the 2016 Brexit Referendum.

Some in the party argue that, to make an impact, we should stop appealing to a broad coalition. We should make uncompromising statements, however much it alienates some existing voters and members. That we could write off old areas of strength, and instead pursue less traditional seats, such as affluent metropolitan constituencies and university towns.

When there is a real risk of a Tory hegemony, I think this is a terrible mistake. It would gift the Tories places where only we can beat the Tories. And instead shift our fight to where we are competing with Labour.

Continue reading »
110 Comments
Simon Pike

‘High Risk Vendors’ and Government eavesdropping

By Simon Pike | Wed 11th March 2020 - 6:00 pm

Last Tuesday, Parliament debated the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property), Bill. Well, actually, it didn’t. Several Tory backbenchers and a Labour shadow Minister hijacked the debate with amendments seeking to exclude ‘High-Risk Vendors’ (by which they mean Huawei) from UK telecoms networks. They did not provide any evidence to support their concerns, and the speeches sometimes bordered on a witch hunt.

Robert Harrison and Paul Reynolds have both written balanced and insightful articles on Huawei for Lib Dem Voice. The Government currently proposes to limit ‘High-Risk Vendors’ to the access network, and 35% market share. In a comment on Paul’s article, I explained how the 5G standards are designed to prevent any eavesdropping within the access network.

There is a well-documented case where an equipment supplier has been compromised by a foreign Government so that it could intercept the secret communications of other nations. But this is neither Huawei nor China: the company is Crypto AG, and the foreign Government is the USA.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 4 Comments
Chris Perry

Housing: A basic human right?

By Chris Perry | Wed 11th March 2020 - 3:30 pm

According to the charity Shelter, three million new social homes must be built in England over the next 20 years of which 1.2 million homes are needed for younger families who cannot afford to buy and “face a lifetime in expensive and insecure private renting”. The Government intends to build 250,000 homes by 2022, including homes for rent.

Travelling around the UK one gets the impression that there is more house building going on than ever before gobbling up agricultural land. This is at the time that we are leaving the EU, the “single market” and the “common agriculture policy”. About 30% of all our food is currently imported from EU Countries and for some products it is 100%. In 2016 more than £30.3bn of Britain’s food imports and £12.3bn of its food exports were with the EU, highlighting the scale of economic disruption if the current trade negotiations result in tariffs.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 13 Comments
Nick da Costa

Update from FCC and amendments selected for debate

By Nick da Costa | Wed 11th March 2020 - 12:00 pm

The Federal Conference Committee met on Sunday, 8th March to review the amendments, emergency motions and topical issues submitted for Spring Conference. We also discussed the most recent guidance with regards to COVID-19 and a few other reports back from the Federal Board.

On COVID-19; we’re keeping under close review the plans for the York conference in the light of the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Based on health advice from Public Health England and government, along with that from York Council, at present, the Conference will go ahead as planned. We will, however, be ensuring that those coming to Conference are reminded of current advice, such as the need for regular hand washing and the circumstances under which people should self-isolate. Obviously, if the advice we receive changes we may have to revisit these decisions. Constitutionally, any decision regarding whether Conference goes ahead would be a decision for the Federal Board to take –  LINK

There will be plenty of hand sanitisers throughout the conference venue and the two official hotels; and please ensure that when you are washing your hands, that you do so for 20 seconds at least – or for the length of the chorus of The Land (plus the last line repeated). Advice and guidance will be published in the Conference Extra and Daily and will be available throughout the venue.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Conference | Tagged | 10 Comments
David Chadwick

Singapore, do the Conservatives know what they are asking for?

By David Chadwick | Wed 11th March 2020 - 8:45 am

Singapore is often depicted as an authoritarian dictatorship come economic paradise. Conservatives like to fantasise about Singapore, seeing it as the prime example of a small state, low-tax, low-regulation economy that they would like to emulate.

But Singapore’s success has been driven by an idea that is antithetical to the Conservative mind: that the state can be as efficient and effective as the market.

Singapore is not the neoliberal paradise it has been heralded as below are four policy areas we could learn from: –

A sovereign wealth fund to accompany fiscal policy:  the Singaporean state asserts its primacy in the island-state’s economy. Compulsory purchase-orders are common; the state frequently buys private turf for the public good. Singapore has built one of the world’s richest sovereign wealth funds, Temasek, which is accountable to Singapore’s Ministry of Finance. It helps to finance the state’s long-term infrastructure projects and, in many ways, resembles the UK’s Green Investment Bank, which the Conservatives sold off in 2015.  

Continue reading »
Tagged | 6 Comments
Nicholas Chan

It’s Time for Tangible Support for Hong Kong

By Nicholas Chan | Tue 10th March 2020 - 1:30 pm

Embed from Getty Images

A famous Chinese idiom story is about Liu Bang agreeing on a truce with Xiang Yu; both then forging a treaty of brotherhood. In reality, it was a scheme against Xiang Yu, who is a better battle commander.

Continue reading »
1 Comment
Chris Perry

Reducing income inequality

By Chris Perry | Tue 10th March 2020 - 8:30 am

Embed from Getty Images

This is the second of three articles on housing

Huge profits are being made out of housing when the Government estimates 4,266 people are sleeping rough. For example Barratts made pre-tax profits in 2019 of £909.8m – even after paying their Chief Executive £3.6m. Nationwide made £833m after paying its Chief Executive £2.37m and the Government collected £9.3m in Stamp Duty.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 22 Comments

Minimum Income Guarantee

By Joe Bourke | Tue 10th March 2020 - 8:00 am

The purpose of politics can be said to be to resolve conflicts among different groups in society that arise from conflicting economic and generational interests. Developing compromise solutions that can promote harmony and good societal relations are the raison d’être for political parties.

The post-war welfare state delivering health and education services free at the point of use is such a compromise. So too is the social security safety net.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 26 Comments
Chris Perry

Low incomes mean that the basic human right of housing is often beyond people’s reach

By Chris Perry | Mon 9th March 2020 - 6:44 pm

Embed from Getty Images

This is the first of three articles on housing

Food and shelter are essential to survival and yet according to the latest Government figures, collected in the autumn of 2019 and published in February 2020, 4,266 people are estimated to be sleeping rough each night in this the 5th largest economy in the world. The Charity Crisis believes it may be nearer to 8,000.

According to the charity Shelter three million new social homes must be built in England over the next 20 years of which 1.2 million homes are needed for younger families who cannot afford to buy and “face a lifetime in expensive and insecure private renting”. The Government responded that providing fair social housing was a priority and it planned to build 250,000 homes by 2022, including homes for social rent.

Housing is big business and it was the collapse of the property marked in America which led to the economic crisis in 2008 which saw the Government bail out the banks and led to ten years of austerity during which the rich, including those responsible for the crisis, got richer and the majority of us got poorer.

Continue reading »
6 Comments
Cameron Molland

EU negotiations – we must take Erasmus off the table – here’s why

By Cameron Molland | Mon 9th March 2020 - 12:10 pm

Erasmus+ Logo
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Britain does not have the most glittering of reputations on the Continent for its ability to adapt to the local lingo. Indeed, when I holiday in France every year, one of the most frequent remarks people make to me is “Wow, your French is very good! We don’t often get many English people speaking our language”. I’m always a touch embarrassed by how poor British people are at speaking foreign languages; it’s become a bit of a national stereotype that les Anglais generally can’t speak the language of the country in which they find themselves; much like far too many British expats seem to think that they will make themselves easier to understand by over-enunciating, gesticulating wildly, and speaking loudly, whilst still speaking English.

I think this is one of the biggest hypocrisies and self-contradictions of Brexit; Priti Patel and the Home Office want all people who come to Britain to work to speak fluent English before they qualify for entry. And yet, that same Conservative government has already got one foot out of the doorway of one of the most incredible opportunities with which language students (a dying breed, alas) can be presented: Erasmus.

Continue reading »
6 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • expats
    Burnham hasn't yet been confirmed as PM but already the right wing media, and some on here, have decided that he's not up to the job... If memory serves, withi...
  • Roland
    >". If Chloe is referring to VAT on public school education then I disagree. Those who can afford £ 65,000 p.a. in fees at Eton can well afford to pay the V...
  • David Raw
    Poll rating amongst teachers ? But, they happily gobbled up the 10% pay rise Ms Phillipson arranged for them though, Chloe. As to being a nasty piece of work, ...
  • Chloe
    Her poll rating amongst teachers is awful, & to read the teachers blogs about the reforms she put in place is an eye-opener. Above all else, those calling ...
  • Tom Bailey
    In the 1970’s an American man called Walter Carlos was a serious well established musician, professional in the world of electronic music. At some point he w...