We know that tackling child poverty and pensioner poverty was a priority of New Labour, and that they succeeded in doing so to a remarkable degree. The introduction of the Minimum Wage and Tax Credits, which also boosted work incentives in the old system, played a central part in this. But an equally significant part was played by a slightly dull and technical action taken by…
First Past the Post is an archaic, outdated electoral system that has failed its basic litmus test at two of the last three elections. Its proponents claim that it delivers “strong and stable majority government.” Yet the last three elections have produced two hung parliaments and one majority so meagre it forced the Government back to the polls when it couldn’t pass…
Conventional wisdom says that the political centre is empty. It’s wrong. The liberal centre is held by the traditional third party, which still possesses substantial national infrastructure and resources. The much larger authoritarian centre ground is fiercely contested by the leadership of both major parties, offering competing control narratives in economic and national spheres. What British politics lacks is a Green-Left movement,…
Every week, across the country, millions of Wine O’Clock Aunts will put up their weekly “Friday feeling” Facebook statuses. These posts will express their feelings of anticipation for the impending prospect of their long awaited weekend plans. Similarly, in volume three of Capital, Marx argued that “the realm of freedom” begins only when work, or “the realm of necessity”, ceases. Both Marx…
