Category Archives: Political commentary
Scottish independence, Ed Miliband & progressive politics
On the 4th June the Scottish government’s Expert Working Group on Welfare issued its report on the possible shape of the social security system in an independent Scotland. They recommended that:
The kids are alright, but not all right
The BBC news website had an article about the political affiliations of Generation Y (which is the name unimaginative pop demographers have given to people currently aged 18–30, on the basis that they are the generation after Generation X). The … Continue reading
The Euro election results build the case for Scottish independence
I have seen it suggested over the last few days that the results of the European elections in Scotland demonstrate that the division between Scottish and English politics is less stark than commonly thought, and that this has undermined the … Continue reading
Political predictions: first update
Eighteen months ago I pretended, preposterously, to be some kind of all-seeing political oracle – Eighteen months ago I idiotically created a whole series of hostages to fortune – Eighteen months ago I used this blog to make a number … Continue reading
Everything you need to know about the housing crisis in two headlines
The following image was grabbed on the late afternoon of Friday, 2nd May, 2014. It’s taken from one of the pages in The Guardian‘s Money section, and it tells you everything you need to know about the housing crisis (which … Continue reading
For a “Christian country”, ours seems to have an awful lot of hoarded wealth
David Cameron has recently taken to declaring with an unprecedented frequency and vigour that “we” are a Christian country. Some people are upset about this. Personally, I’m not all that upset. I don’t tend to get upset about these kinds … Continue reading
Nicky Morgan: the Minister for Women who doesn’t believe in equality for all women
Ok, let’s start with a very short bit of modern history. The UK government role of Minister for Women and Equality was created in 2007 (superseding the previous role of Minister for Women). The position was renamed Minister for Women … Continue reading
10 songs to explain the 1980s
The Guardian recently posed what it called a ‘Playlist challenge’: to select 10 songs that would ‘explain the 1980s’ to people who were too young to experience them first hand. [Oh, ok, it’s not actually recent at all. The truth … Continue reading
Mind are to be congratulated for their work with benefits claimants
I have a habit, on this blog, of criticising the major mental health charities when they undertake activities with which I disagree. I did so most recently a little over a month ago. On that occasion, I expressed disappointment and … Continue reading
Aethelread the Unread 
Nicky Morgan: the Minister for Equalities who doesn’t believe in LGBT equality
You might currently be experiencing an odd sense of deja vu. That’s because I wrote a post with a very similar title to this – Nicky Morgan: the Minister for Women who doesn’t believe in equality for all women – … Continue reading →