Tag Archives: john gray

Dear John Gray…

Dear John Gray,

You have me  baffled, I’ll confess.

Writing recently in the London Review of Books you talked about how in your view Vince Cable and others in the Orange Book a vision of a “small government”.

I’m confused because it’s true that Vince Cable’s chapter does call for a cap on the maximum that the state can raise in taxation. However, that maximum was set higher than the Labour government was taking in at the time in 2004, several years after they had ‘turned on the taps’ on public expenditure and left previous Conservative Party spending targets well behind.

Blair and …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 24 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Chloe
    "We did use RON in single-winner STV / AV elections at my Students Union. But I’m not sure I see it as constructive practical politics" That's where it sho...
  • Chloe
    Richard; Who picks up the tab for the net fiscal deficit of the Scottish & Welsh governments . Jana is correct - ultimate sovereignty is with Westminster. ...
  • George Thomas
    I think there are some issues which should unite Welsh politicians across the spectrum: - retrospective compensation for lack of devolution of HS2 funding; ...
  • Matt (Bristol)
    cim - I could see a situation where in a multi-winner STV election, if NOTA or RON (reopen nominations) would remain in contention but with a special threshold ...
  • David S
    The logical result of a NOTA vote would be the election of a place-holder candidate who fills the seat and prevents anyone else from getting in, but who also re...