The debate about Progressive Council Tax (PCT) in Brighton and Hove has so far generated more heat than light. There remain a number of key questions, and as well as raising those I’d like to offer some reflections on the politics of the proposal – as well as answering some of the questions that have […]
Monthly Archives: August 2013
One of the most radicalising experiences of my youth was the Falklands War. I was a student at the time, reading PPE at Oxford – the entrance exam to mainstream politics at the staff college of the British establishment – and remember being aghast at the politics and the emotional hinterland it revealed: the apparent […]
The Brighton and Hove Green Party is reported to have voted for the adoption of a Progressive Council Tax scheme, under which a substantial increase in Council Tax would be put to the city’s electors in a referendum, to be offset by a system of substantial rebates, The aim of this proposal would be to […]
Shortly after the announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Review, I blogged that I had sent an FOI request to the Treasury asking for the evidence held on the savings derived from delaying the receipt of benefit until after the first seven days of unemployment. I have now received this interim reply: Despite its saying very […]
I blogged a piece earlier today about the report in the Brighton Argus that the Brighton and Hove Green Group of councillors has called in mediators to resolve differences between Group members – and I argued that this was an essentially political failure, brought about by trying to operate without rigid structures; and that the […]
The Brighton Argus reports today that the Brighton and Hove Green Party has called in mediators to deal with growing rifts within the Green Group of councillors, following a vote at a General Meeting earlier this week. In one respect, though, the Argus has in my view seriously misunderstood the issues. It talks about different […]
The current focus for Britain’s Green movement is Balcombe, and Cuadrilla’s operations to undertake preliminary work to extract shale gas. The protests have been large and enthusiastic and undoubtedly impressive: may people in the Green movement and beyond are starting to claim that they have been game-changing, not least following the arrest of Caroline Lucas […]
Listening to the noise around today’s announcement of rail fare rises from January next year has been dispiriting. Time and time again, the issue of fares has been linked to renationalisation – as for example in this Guardian opinion piece which is notable for a complete failure to understand the issues around fares and ownership. […]
This particularly gratuitous tweet was published by the Queen’s Park ward Green Party in Brighton this morning: It’s wholly unacceptable. In claiming for one Party the opposition to Putin’s attack on LGBT rights, it’s deeply insulting to people of all parties and none who are prepared to show solidarity with those under attack. The Green […]
Today’s media have been dominated by a speech by Chris Bryant MP, due to be delivered later today, on immigration and low pay. Bryant was apparently due to accuse two major UK retailers – Tesco and Next – of using cheap Eastern European labour to undercut wages for local workers. Both companies, as might be […]
Notes from a Broken Society 