May 8, 2021Post-Hartlepool Starmer needs an A-List for the next electionIn a speech marking his one-year anniversary as Labour Leader, Sir Keir Starmer noted that Labour should be ready for election within two years, as Boris Johnson might consider a Spring 2023 election Essential to such readiness, and to likely success in such an election, is the selection of a…Labour Party3 min read
Mar 16, 2021Budget response: A continuation of the government’s failed covid strategyNo one envied the task facing Rishi Sunak. Over 100,000 dead, an economy which has shrunk by over 10%, and the debt burden spiralling to over 100% of GDP. And worst of all, a Prime Minister whose inability to see beyond the next days’ headlines makes him completely inadequate to…Budget32 min read
Apr 21, 2020Britain’s private school problem: A proposal from the radical centreExecutive Summary The persistence of inequality of opportunity in the UK is to a large extent determined by inequalities in access to good education, with dramatic differences in opportunities offered by most independent schools and high-performing state schools relative to poorer performing state schools. The existence of an expensive independent…Private School12 min read
Apr 1, 2020Labour’s only way back is through the Union JackA post-Brexit progressive project to save the country Introduction The battle for the Labour leadership is finally nearing its send, and questions of identity have proved a contentious point. …Labour Party15 min read
Aug 1, 2019A subtle but superior alternative to #abolishetonThe recently launched ‘Labour Campaign Against Private Schools’ is developing traction, utilising the provocative slogan #abolisheton. Private education has been long despised on the left and the new campaign regurgitates the intuitively powerful argument that enabling the wealthy to purchase better education is profoundly unjust. The campaigners have perhaps picked…Private Education4 min read
Jul 24, 2019DfiD and the national interest debate: Can contractors ride to the rescue?The UK has a new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and will have a new Secretary of State for International Development, after Rory Stewart publicly foresworn serving under Boris Johnson. The new office holders inherit an international development policy agenda which has stalled since the UK’s vote to leave the EU…Brexit4 min read
Jan 7, 2019DfID 2.0: UK development policy post-BrexitThe UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), henceforth shortened to ‘Brexit’, is by far the biggest change to the UK’s foreign relations since World War II. …Brexit4 min read
Nov 5, 2018The case for more MP’s (no, really)The case for more MP’s (no really) Summary Proposals are currently before Parliament to reduce the number of MP’s from 650 to 600. The significance of this reform extends far beyond the loss of public employment for 50 MP’s. As often occurs, grotesque fake populism masks what is unambiguously an…UK Politics9 min read
Nov 1, 2018Budget Response: How Hammond treated and tricked his way to temporary political survivorAt a time of national crisis, amid deep economic uncertainty, a grey chancellor with a public reputation for dullness stood up at the dispatch box. Sitting next to him was his boss, the Prime Minister, who was facing sustained leadership questions amid their perceived emotional inability to relate with voters…Economics12 min read
