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Tag Archives: UK
UK-US TRADE DEAL TO BE SHROUDED IN SECRECY
This is the morning’s front page that greeted me on 21 December 2017. Several things immediately spring to the forefront of my mind: We weren’t supposed to start trade negotiations until after we’ve left the EU; so what is the … Continue reading
How Low Have we Sunk?
Standards in public life are perceived to be at an all-time low. This is a problem. It is a problem because it means that people don’t trust politicians and all those associated with politics (and that includes many public servants). … Continue reading
Democratic Deficit
I’ve written before about the antiquated and unfair voting system in the UK. But here, I’m going to widen this to look at the democratic system in the UK more broadly. We’ve just been subjected to weeks of rhetoric about … Continue reading
Posted in Constitutional Reform, Electoral Reform, Politics in context
Tagged democracy, elections, MPs, participation, political parties, transparency, UK
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Vote for Policies Take 2
In January 2014, I came across a website called ‘Vote for Policies’ and I wrote about it here. Then, the basis of the survey and analysis were the 2010 manifestos of six political parties. Vote for Policies has just launched … Continue reading
Participation, Politics and Constitutional Reform
I thought I’d write about something light for a change! No, seriously, the reason I’m writing this blog is three-fold – I care about electoral systems and about electoral reform in the UK because I firmly believe an intrinsically unfair … Continue reading
Cameron’s approach to European Commission Presidency – a failed strategy based on wilful ignorance
Ever since the European Parliament elections, David Cameron has been in the headlines on the subject of who should, and shouldn’t be the next European Commission President. Of course, Cameron was and is playing to the UKIP gallery; a failed … Continue reading
Welfare cuts – some hard but essential truths behind the hype
This will be a very short post. I have just come across a report by the Centre for Welfare Reform called ‘Counting the Costs’; this assesses in significant detail (and using government figures) the impact on different groups in society … Continue reading
Posted in Behind the Headlines, Politics in context, Welfare
Tagged benefits, claimants, equality, poverty, UK
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Immigration – does the government have it all wrong?
Two different stories have been in the headlines recently. I haven’t seen them connected anywhere. So I thought I would draw some lines between them and see what they have to do with each other. Immigration Cases Backlog hits half … Continue reading
Posted in Behind the Headlines, Politics in context
Tagged Asylum, equality, Migration, racism, UK, unemployment, violence
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Borders and Visas – UK or EU competence?
This post is part of a series about the UK review of the balance of competence between the EU and the Member States (and the UK in particular). For more details about the review as a whole see my earlier … Continue reading
Posted in UK-EU
Tagged Asylum, Balance of Competence Review, EU, Europe, Migration, participation, transparency, UK
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Are benefits adequate or too much – what does the BBC say?
The Programme to explain it all? 4 households on benefits pitched against 4 households on low incomes but who are in work. That’s the BBC’s recipe for a rational debate about the adequacy vs defensibility of benefits. A mini-series is … Continue reading
Posted in Politics in context
Tagged benefits, claimants, equality, media, minimum income standard, minimum wage, poverty, UK
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rationaldebate 