Yesterday, Jason Beattie at the Mirror revealed a massive cut to the Crime Prevention budget, funds that would have been used locally by elected Police and Crime Commissioners. This massive shortfall in funding means that many of the elected police chiefs will not be able to properly fulfil the role set out for them.
Following Naomi Eisenstadt and Graham Allen in talking about the foundation years is more than a little daunting.
There are few issues that unite the Liberal Democrats across the social/economic liberal spectrum at the moment. However, the proposal to give up employment rights for shares, appears to be one of them. Despite a carefully worded defence by Vince Cable on Lib Dem Voice, the party just isn’t buying it.
Alex Salmond has now asked the Scottish Government’s legal advisers for an opinion on the implications of independence for Scotland’s membership of the European Union.
“Too far, too fast.” “A double dip recession made in Downing St.” “Jobs-and-growth.” EdB’s flat hand gesture.
This has been 2012′s political narrative on the economy. And it is to the remarkable credit of both Ed’s that is.
The good society is one where we constantly strive and work for improvement. We will never have that society unless we think ahead, plan and strategise about our future, characteristics lacking in the government machine. The dominant late intervention culture has failed.
It is disappointing, if unsurprising, to read in research released by Scottish Widows that women’s pension savings have fallen relative to men’s in the last year.
1) President Obama and Mitt Romney have essentially the same foreign policy. The difference is that Obama is a lot more articulate in outlining his. Where he sounded assured and confident and erudite, Romney resorted to language and a tone that would have made George W. Bush proud. His strategy is to “go after the bad guys.
All three political parties claimed support for Sure Start in their manifestos in the 2010 election. How has that commitment been kept by the Coalition Government? Ironically, the Coalition Government frequently claims that because no single party got a clear majority, promises made in manifestos are no longer commitments.
This week Shifting Grounds will be dedicating a number of articles to the issue of childcare.
The importance of this issue cannot be overstated. At a time of sluggish economic growth, deep and lasting cuts in welfare and a Government committed to a failed economic doctrine, the situation is getting worse as time goes on.
I had just finished my last (official) shift at the Paralympics. Sitting down alone with my last plate of food from the wonderful staff at the Copper Box canteen, I got talking to another volunteer who was at the same table.
Labour and Ed Miliband desperately need to carve out a position on social security. Boxed in by public popularity with the tough Tory stance, Labour has resorted to an unconvincing defensiveness on welfare reform: often accepting new policies ‘in principle’, but stating that Labour would do it just a bit differently.
I’ve very much enjoyed this exchange Jon and I’m amazed that you mention George W Bush’s Duty of Hope speech from 1999 as one of the most inspirational of recent times. I would certainly agree with you.
As a newly crowned Nobel Peace Prize winner, the EU has a lot to celebrate, not least the role it has played in ensuring peace between the countries of Europe for the past 60 years. But over the same period European nations, particularly western ones, have struggled with the challenges of building cohesive societies.
It’s been a rollercoaster year for the Don’t Underestimate Ed Miliband Association (DUEMA). Formed semi-seriously by Telegraph writer Iain Martin after the 2010 Labour leadership election, it subsequently became an in-joke among Miliband’s detractors before being taken over and renamed the Don’t Unseat Ed Miliband Association.
Ben Mitchell looks at the second Presidential Debate in ten observations.
Unlike the first debate, this one was worth staying up for. A good array of audience questions, well moderated, with follow up questions, ensured we got a proper contest rather than the drab affair in Denver.
Thanks Tim,
The conversation is getting a bit lively.
I read in the Daily Telegraph two weeks ago that: ‘The air of anxiety is palpable as Whitehall waits for the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. …. a consensus is emerging that the fiscal situation revealed by George Osborne will be even bleaker than expected’.
10 million people a year travel between Britain and the Continent using the Eurostar channel tunnel: we are in Europe and, despite the anti-Europe rhetoric, we benefit from it.
Tim,
Thanks for your generous response.
I agree that it is possible to enjoy your opponent’s conferences rather more than your own; not least as you have more time to listen and learn. I went to the Conservative Conference last year and felt I understood more about the texture of the Party than from simple observation around Westminster.
In these weeks of political rebirth as all the parties put on their serious voices and try to spark our interest again, the Tories have been talking tough justice. Last week at conference, Chris Grayling has made clear his desire to bring a harder line into the Department of Justice.
Dear Tim
I hope you are well and recovering from the Conference Circus. Whilst the commentariat decided this conference season was uneventful and forgettable, I thought it was compelling. In particular, the Conservative get together was fascinating.
Until now the central paradox facing the modern Tory party was obvious.
Two years ago this month, the coalition announced 30% funding cuts to the Arts Council England (ACE). More recently, Maria Miller, the new Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, stated that we now need to help organisations “get better at asking, not just receiving”.
Depressing. That’s how I found David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative Party faithful on Wednesday. An odd word to use you might think, considering this was a speech peppered with references to Britain’s ‘can do’ attitude, to its greatness, and in its ability to overcome adversity and deliver.
Switzerland is frequently cited as the destination of choice for super-rich individuals fearful of possible checks on their wealth and power in the UK. But the Swiss public are just as angry about excessive pay and inequality as we are.
There’s no doubt that David Cameron’s speech to Tory party conference yesterday was one of his better ones since becoming Prime Minister.
Birmingham New Street, Monday evening. A crowd amasses- chanting and cheering. There is only one name on their lips. Boris Johnson.
Nearly a week on, Ed Miliband’s conference speech still looks a very good one. It pulled off several important tricks – saying something about the country, uniting the party, impressing the commentariat, looking good on the news and helping define not just Labour but also the Conservative Party.
We have heard a lot recently about the attitude of conservative politicians on both sides of the Atlantic towards people they evidently regard as their social inferiors.
As a recently transplanted American I’ve hit my share of snags adjusting to living in Britain, from spelling mistakes to realising that in Britain ‘are you alright?’ doesn’t translate to ‘why do you look like you’re about to cry?’ Most recently, this culture shock took the form of a very wet lesson in British plumbing.
My concern this time last week was that Ed Miliband wasn’t getting the credit he deserves for the skill and tenacity with which he has turned his party around over the last couple of years. Well, I don’t need to worry about that any more.
The collapse of the West Coast Mainline Rail Franchise process offers an opportunity.
It would be a massive mistake to rerun the whole franchising process. This is not the first time a rail franchise process has dramatically fallen apart.
This is the first year for a long time I haven’t attended Labour Party Conference with my work hat on. For those of us who do, or have done, the Party Conference circuit, it is always fascinating to contrast and compare.
Much of the discussion of Ed Miliband’s Labour Party conference speech has rightly focused on his audacious appropriation of Disraeli and the rhetoric of ‘One Nation’ Conservatism.
The idea of popular sovereignty may be significantly undermined in an increasingly interdependent world. Forces from beyond the borders of the state effect the citizens of that state. From the global market to climate change, nation-states can no longer act unilaterally to determine policy outcomes of their own choosing.
For a speech that was billed as being about personality, I thought yesterday’s address from Ed Miliband was actually fairly policy heavy.
Claiming the mantle, or at least the rhetoric, of Disraeli the Labour Leader sought to frame his party as the true One Nation Party committed to a “One Nation economy”.
The most important thing about a leader’s speech is that it should tell people something they didn’t already know. It could be an expectation confounded, a new policy rolled out, the enunciation of a fresh political vision or the visible growth of a leader’s personal qualities. We got all of that from Ed Miliband today.
Ed Miliband’s speech has caught the Tories off guard. As many have pointed out, David Cameron will now know that he has a real fight on his hands come the next election. Gone will be the petty polling, aiming to paint him as a leader, but not a Prime Minister. Now David Cameron has to fight tooth and nail in the battle of ideas.
We have swing voters. We also have swing newspapers, of which The Times is one example. Whether they’re an accurate barometer of public opinion – do they move with the mood of voters or the other way round – is disputed. Either way, The Times is moderate enough, and less tribal, to be taken seriously.
A year ago Ed Miliband delivered a speech that attracted almost as much controversy within the labour movement as it did from the political Right. His speech robust declared that there were two models of capitalism – one that fostered predators and another that championed producers.
At the Fabian Women’s Network Labour conference fringe on Monday October 1st, we asked “How can Labour solve the childcare crisis?” We believe that answering this question is urgent – a position shared by the others contributing to the debate, including the Family and Parenting Institute and the Co-operative Party.
On the second day of Labour conference in Manchester, one thing is undeniably clear. If the no-brainer purpose of this year’s event was to put some flesh on the bones of the themes essayed in last year’s leader’s speech (responsible capitalism, predators vs producers), those in charge look to have pulled it off.
Published on the eve of the Party Conference season, the 29th British Social Attitudes Survey makes for interesting reading. At first glance the Survey seems to paint a picture of an increasingly individualistic and xenophobic populace.