If you can’t say anything nice (or evidenced)…
Today’s Chris Bryant speech reminded me strongly of that great songwriter of our times, Ronan Keating. (Apologies if this is stuck in your head for the rest of the day – I needed to share the pain.)...
View ArticleImmigration Polling: always question the questions
Earlier today, YouGov published the results of its survey into attitudes towards the Home Office’s recent “Go Home” poster campaign, known disaffectionately in these parts as the #racistvan. The poll’s...
View ArticleThe woman problem – UKIP or Conservative?
Last week, senior UKIP members dipped their toe into the debate about women’s rights in the workplace. UKIP Treasurer Stuart Wheeler suggested women aren’t on executive boards in the UK because we’re...
View ArticleThe silence of our friends: a reluctant hawk on Syria
A week ago, I was sitting on the Tube home from work and opened the Evening Standard, to be confronted with graphic photos of the corpses of Syrian children killed in a chemical attack. Suddenly, the...
View ArticleA manifesto for London’s women?
One of the most interesting fringes I attended at Labour Party Conference was the Demos fringe on London after Boris. Given the speaker list (Andrew Adonis, Tessa Jowell, Sadiq Khan and David Lammy), I...
View ArticleHouse of Comments podcast – Labour Conference special
I’m slightly late in posting this, but I guested on this week’s House of Comments Labour Party Conference special podcast. Myself, Andy Harrop of the Fabian Society and blogger Rob Marchant joined...
View ArticleApparently it’s OK to call Travellers a “species” now?
Some weeks ago, I noticed a piece on the Daily Mail website which contained some particularly unpleasant language about members of the Travelling community. The offending line was: A Traveller and his...
View ArticleGoing sober for October
I had meant to blog about this slightly earlier, but I’m now three days in to my Go Sober for October pledge. Not fancying running another 10k during the winter (far too cold) and being unable to grow...
View ArticleHigh-cost credit: a long way to go
I was delighted at the announcement today from Ed Miliband that Labour would introduce a levy on payday lenders to fund low-cost lending through credit unions. Growing up in Ireland, where credit union...
View ArticleThe “Asian culture of care” and barriers to informal care in the UK
Last week, Jeremy Hunt suggested that, to tackle the increasing need for care of older people, we should adopt the ‘Asian model’ of taking older relatives into our homes and providing care for them....
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