Tag Archives: politics

Lord Andrew Phillips

Lord Andrew Phillips writes…Reflections from the campaign trail in Clacton

By Lord Andrew Phillips | Wed 22nd October 2014 - 11:58 am

Clacton beach huts photo by Nick PageI have a lifelong affinity with Clacton. It was the nearest seaside resort to my hometown of Sudbury, but more relevantly I was parliamentary candidate for the Harwich division, as it was then called, which included Clacton, in the General Election of 1970 (albeit for Labour – I saw the light three years later!)

On the face of it one should want to forget all about the Clacton results as quickly as possible. But there are some bright spots, and some insights which may be worth sharing.

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 21 Comments
Stephen Harte

Opinion: We have to conduct ourselves more respectfully in politics

By Stephen Harte | Mon 16th June 2014 - 4:15 pm

Handshake man - women http://www.flazingo.com

You will have seen Caron’s story on the moving article by Gordon Aikman, Head of Research at Better Together, sharing his news that he has, at 29, Motor Neurone Disease and is likely to die soon. He is raising funds for MND Scotland and in just one day exceeded his £20,000 target. If you wish to donate, you can do so here.

I don’t know Gordon Aikman and probably now never will, although we have friends in common.

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

How can we do politics better?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 4th January 2014 - 9:59 am

There’s been a spate of articles and comments by Liberal Democrat politicians which, at a guess, isn’t co-ordinated, but they all address the same themes – the problems with the way that we do politics and lack of trust in politicians and institutions.

Paddy Ashdown told the Times (£), reported also for free in the Guardian that public faith in British institutions was “crumbling into dust” with some very harsh words for the BBC and NHS:

The BBC is revealed as an organisation which can’t manage its own affairs, misspends public money and seems to have been complicit in aggrandising

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 46 Comments

Politics is losing people, especially young people – what do we do about it?

By Andy Boddington | Tue 10th September 2013 - 9:58 am

Generational Trends Politics BSAIt is no surprise, but it still makes grim reading. According to today’s release of the British Social Attitudes survey, most young people are no longer interested in politics. The survey shows that we are not just losing an entire generation to politics. People of all ages are becoming less engaged with the political process.

We face future prospect of governments being elected on turnouts of well below 50%. As disinterest in party politics grows, we must ask whether our political structures, especially political parties, will still be relevant in the decades to come.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged | 51 Comments
Caron Lindsay

When Mr Farage came to Edinburgh – the ugly side of politics

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 18th May 2013 - 3:45 pm

It was misbehaviour all round when the UKIP leader came to Edinburgh on Thursday. He found himself on the receiving end of a noisy protest  organised by, among others, the Radical Independence Campaign. They shouted all sorts of abuse at him, leading to him taking refuge in a pub from which he was rescued by the Police. The Guardian has video of the incident.

He quickly lost any sympathy he might have gained by accusing the BBC’s David Miller of hatred and hanging up on a live radio interview.   This from a man who used the term “fascist scum” …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 20 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Chloe
    Exactly Jason ; It needs to be called out on all sides. Numerous videos of Young Bob online being attacked by students who've little in the way of any coherent ...
  • Jack Meredith
    @Jason Connnor It's funny, usually I'm the one pointing out the issues of both extremes! My piece is more focused on domestic issues, using an international ...
  • Jana
    “ The normalisation of fascism is becoming a common occurrence” I disagree. What I think we have is too many people shouting ‘fascism’ whenever they ...
  • Jason Connor
    Yes agree with both above. And I'm far more persuaded by the leader of the Unite Union, Sharon Graham. As a trade union leader she recognises that ordinary pens...
  • Jason Connor
    The case for social care yes but not at the expense of diminishing pensions considering the UK state pension is lower than that of most other European countries...