UK Politics

29.11.2006 UK Politics

OUSU dumbing down

I happened to be looking for something related to my time at Oxford and wondered how Oxford University Student Union is getting on. I used to serve on the Exec there, and also was the OUSU Webmanager for a year

16.11.2006 UK Politics

Tough on the causes of, erm, well… just tough

It was that great event in British political tradition today – the opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech. Surprise, surprise, the main focus was on law and order issues – full list of bills here. Clampdowns on this and

12.11.2006 UK Politics

Pedestrianise Oxford Street

By chance I had half an hour to spare when returning to London from Oxford on Thursday. I left the coach at Marble Arch and wandered along Oxford Street. Much to my surprise, I found that there was no traffic

12.11.2006 UK Politics

Miracles on the streets of Walworth

While walking along the streets of Walworth in South London you see plenty of interesting things. Yesterday some bizarre street signs caught my attention while walking with Helena to a friend’s party at Oval. First we came across a religious

09.11.2006 UK Politics

PR in The Lords – a novel approach

It’s quite rare, but from time to time you are thrown a somewhat bizarre idea that makes you think. This evening was one of those occasions. I was discussing politics with a university friend, Sarah Mulley, and discussion strayed onto

02.11.2006 UK Politics

Rising anger at rising damp (and the rubbish Housing Association)

OK, I’ve had a joke here in the past about the frustrations of the damp in the kitchen in my flat – we were growing mushrooms there a few weeks ago, thanks to a dripping pipe from the washing machine

01.11.2006 UK Politics

Livingstone on climate change – too right, and I’m guilty

I’ve always admired Ken Livingstone. He’s clearly a very tricky and divisive character, but he does have a commitment and drive that so few politicians do. There’s a brilliant article in today’s Guardian about his take on climate change. This

31.10.2006 UK Politics

The Stern report – the return of politics?

There have been plenty of reports about the damage that Climate Change will cause, but few have put a price on the damage in the way yesterday’s Stern Report did (article from The Guardian here). The Government’s response has been

24.10.2006 UK Politics

Why I joined the Labour Party

An interesting debate has started at Bloggers4Labour about why individuals have chosen to join political parties, and the Labour Party in particular. The debate has kicked off in part as a result of some Rowntree Foundation / New Politics work

24.10.2006 UK Politics

ASBO the preacher

Every Tuesday evening I get 2 hours of Swedish at Westminster University, and then a horrid blast of evangelical megaphone preaching while waiting on my bike at the traffic lights at Piccadilly Circus. Each and every Tuesday evening there is

24.10.2006 UK Politics

UK restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian workers, but how will it work?

The fact that the UK is going to restrict rights of Romanian and Bulgarian citizens to enter the UK has been dripping out through leaks and statements for a couple of months now. I first blogged about it on 31st

21.10.2006 UK Politics

So it’s OK to steal Council plants?

Sometimes you come across things in London that are utterly ludicrous. Today I noticed the sign pictured – that some person Walworth has installed a CCTV system to protect their plants on the street from theft. Now, either the plants