Ed Miliband’s new populism doesn’t have to end with energy prices
From banks to railways, even welfare and immigration, Labour can go much further and still keep the public onside
Published by: The Guardian
Monthly Archives: September 2013
The Unknown Maggie
In the more than seven hours set aside for parliamentary tributes to Margaret Thatcher in April this year, only one member of the House of Commons dared to speak unabashedly ill of the just dead. Glenda Jackson, the actress who won two Oscars and then traded Hollywood for the lesser theater of Westminster, delivered a scorching attack on the Conservative former prime minister who had led Britain from 1979 to 1990. This anti-eulogy, more memorable than any other act in Jackson’s less than stellar political career, culminated in her response to Labour colleagues who had felt they ought to pay tribute to Thatcher’s achievement in becoming Britain’s first woman prime minister. “A woman? Not on my terms.”
Published by: The New York Review of Books
Ed Miliband stakes out leftwing positions in Brighton speech
Labour leader offered the faithful a policy-packed speech to sell his party – and himself – on the doorstep
Published by: The Guardian
My most embarrassing university memory? Sitting on a toilet for a day
We asked writers and famous former students to recall their most awkward student memories. Jon Snow, Laura Mvula and Jonathan Freedland are some of those revealing all. Don't try this in halls …
Published by: The Guardian
Luckily for Ed Miliband, Labour is not as ruthless as he
Another good Labour conference speech may boost ratings, but it is the day-to-day combat that will decide who occupies No 10
Published by: The Guardian
Washington DC shootings: America’s gun disease diminishes its soft power
The spate of shootings in the US and the lack of political will to tackle gun control shows the country as a basket case, not a model state
Published by: The Guardian
I’m getting older. Does that mean I’m becoming more rightwing?
Polls show the old less tolerant of gays and working women. But that doesn't make conservatism an inevitable part of ageing
Published by: The Guardian
I’m getting older. Does that mean I’m becoming more rightwing?
Polls show the old less tolerant of gays and working women. But that doesn't make conservatism an inevitable part of ageing
Published by: The Guardian
Rabin, Arafat and a handshake of hope
It was twenty years ago today. On September 13 1993, in bright sunshine and nudged together by Bill Clinton – younger than the others, but playing the father figure – Yitzhak Rabin extended a reluctant hand to a smiling Yasser Arafat before an audience on the White House lawn.
Published by: The Jewish Chronicle
Syria: how a gaffe could stop a war
There are practical issues, but John Kerry's suggestion that Syria turn over its chemical weapons could give all the key players what they need
Published by: The Guardian