“Black male headteachers in Britain’s state schools number just 30” is the startling headline on The Guardian’s website, and on the side of the front page of today’s printed paper. There are 127 female heads too, meaning that – in
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Category: UK Politics
Comment is Free post on True Finns and populist parties
After appearing on BBC World Service World Have Your Say to discuss the True Finns, I’ve now written a piece for Comment is Free about the same issue – you can read it here. The comments thread is full of
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Tim Montgomerie needs some relationship with the facts before attacking the EU
Tim Montgomerie has written an astounding piece at Conservative Home, entitled “We need to address the abusive relationship rather than just stop the latest punch from Brussels”. For Tim, like many Tory bloggers, any notion of accurate reporting goes out
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Some reflections on coalition building (in light of UK and Finnish experience)
Something has been nagging at me since the True Finns’ election success on Sunday. I think it’s because I am struggling to answer this question: why must True Finns be brought into a governing coalition? This question was brought into
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Gus Murray: the face of David Cameron’s immigration policy
Well, not quite, but figuratively speaking… Bear with me. The gentleman pictured is Gus Murray (on Twitter here), an Australian currently resident in Denmark. He’s a graduate of Copenhagen Business School, and has been involved in numerous startup businesses and
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Camden Council claims residents fear the “not the royal wedding” party cancelled because there might be violence
In response to this story – that Republic’s “not the royal wedding” party has been prevented from taking place (Guardian story here), I mailed the representatives of Camden Council responsible for these matters earlier today. The e-mail I received back –
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How elected representatives could use the web to add context (an example for Claude Moraes MEP)
I saw this tweet earlier from Brian Duggan who works for EPLP in their London office: http://twitter.com/TheBrianDuggan/status/55944123059941376 I followed the link to the letters page of The Guardian, and this is what I get: Your report on the conviction of
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A response to Denis MacShane’s CER essay: national parliaments are not the route to EU legitimacy
Denis MacShane has written an essay entitled “Europe’s parliament: Reform or perish?”, a paper which he says is a contribution to the debate about the future of the European Parliament started by Andrew Duff, Julian Priestley, and Anand Menon and
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UK message to the EU: we’ll only call you if we want some money
Some lines have been crossed in today’s news in the UK about European Union politics. First we have Liberal Democrat (yes, you read that right, Liberal Democrat) transport minister Norman Baker having a go at an EU transport white paper:
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Time for EU Uncut?
Like or loathe them but UK Uncut have been highlighting tax avoidance in the UK in a way no-one has ever done before. Vodafone, Fortnum and Mason… more on their site. But this is not a UK problem alone. Different
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Two speeches in Hyde Park – Brendan Barber vs. Ed Miliband
At the rally in Hyde Park yesterday after the March for the alternative, the first two speeches were given by Brendan Barber and Ed Miliband. I’ve used the text of the respective speeches (Barber’s here, Miliband’s here) to generate two
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“It is dangerous to use this socket for boiling kettles” – only in the UK
The photo above is not a mockup. It’s not a joke. It’s a genuine sign in the corridor on the second floor of the Rayne Building at St Anne’s College, Oxford. I was at St Anne’s for a conference earlier
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