Goethe famously said “All theory, dear friend, is grey, but the tree of life springs ever green.” Life sometimes throws up the unimaginable or the seemingly impossible. Even when Jeremy Corbyn miraculously got on the ballot paper for Labour leader nobody imagined that he might actually win the…Read more…
Osborne keeps piling up the debt
The House of Commons Library has just produced a briefing note, “Government borrowing, debt and debt interest: historical statistics and forecasts”. It shows historical statistics for Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) – current account borrowing; Public sector net debt (PSND) – government debt…Read more…
Tory war of attrition against Council housing
Just before the general election the Tories announced that they were going to extend ‘right to buy’ to Housing Associations and to force Councils to sell off so-called ‘high value’ Council homes to fund it. Not only will this mean that Councils will lose scarce housing stock…Read more…
Ending right to buy “full stop”
“Tackling the Housing Crisis”, produced for Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign for the Labour leadership stands in stark contrast to New Labour’s housing policy. The document recognises the need for a large scale council house building programme to tackle the crisis. It’s a welcome…Read more…
Stop the election, the ‘wrong’ candidate may win!
Democracy is all well and good but when the ‘wrong’ person is in danger of winning you have to draw the line somewhere. That staunch democrat, Labour MP John Mann has called on Harriet Harman to ‘halt the contest’. The election is apparently “out of the control” and at risk…Read more…
Owen Jones: holder of the Blairite flame?
Reading Owen Jones piece in yesterday’s Guardian I had to check again whether it had really been written by him. The article castigates the Blairites in the Labour Party over their abstention on the welfare bill parliamentary vote. He complains that they failed to defend New labour’s…Read more…
“Cash strapped Councils struggle to cope as Osborne’s austerity cuts bite”
Research by the Financial Times shows the extent to which local authorities are struggling to cope with the cuts in funding associated with the coalition government’s ‘austerity’ measures. The FT reported that vital services to 150,000 pensioners have been withdrawn whilst child…Read more…
Tory ballot-rigging threatens democratic right to strike
“Today’s Queen’s Speech is a speech for working people, from a One Nation government that will bring our country together.” David Cameron The government’s ‘reform’ of trade union law constitutes an anti-democratic ballot rigging proposal designed to…Read more…
Get off the fence Harriet – Labour should reject the theft of ‘social housing’
At the recent Prime Minister’s Question Time David Cameron goaded interim Labour Leader Harriet Harman on Labour’s attitude to the extension of ‘right to buy’ to Housing Associations. Did Labour agree with it? She failed to answer, repeatedly. Why? Her failure to respond…Read more…
Stop the Tories ballot-rigging proposal
Stop the Tories ballot rigging proposals A letter to the Swindon Advertiser The parliamentary majority which the Tories won in the General Election was delivered by the undemocratic first past the post system (FPTP). Whilst they might be said to have a…Read more…
What happened and why?
These are some brief initial observations on the outcome of the General Election. Understanding exactly what happened in the General Election will take some time. It makes no sense to draw hasty conclusions on what is a complicated outcome in which a number of different trends appear to have…Read more…
Signal Failure – Rail privatisation & the fight against it
20 years ago I wrote a pamphlet for the Thames Valley District Council of the RMT. The text on the back page reads: “Rail privatisation is a universally unpopular measure save for a few ‘free market’ ideologues and managers looking to make a financial killing in line with the top…Read more…
New housing book now available
What Future for Council Housing? Council Housing and the housing crisis A book by Martin Wicks There is much debate about the acute housing crisis in Britain though it is mostly the voices of housing professionals and academics that are heard, not to m…Read more…
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island George Osborne’s Budget speech reminded me of the old saying, an empty vessel makes the most noise. He was talking about a fantasy island of his own imagining far removed from the real country in which all the victims of his austerity programme live. True, as journalist Paul…Read more…
Keep Buckhurst Field a public open space
I’m not sure what evidence Elizabeth Mackley has that the proposal by the New College Corporation in relation to Buckhurst Field has been “well received”. Certainly the College management has cultivated support from local football clubs by promises of its use at prices they can afford….Read more…
Buckhurst field and the New College Corporation
New College is shortly to put in an application for an all-weather football pitch on Council owned Buckhurst field1 which sits on the edge of Park North and Walcot. The New College management are looking to the Council to give it a 25 year lease. The cost of the pitch would be £600,000 with…Read more…
What future for Council Housing?
Council housing and the housing crisis A book by Martin Wicks Everybody knows there is a housing crisis. However, it is usually written about by academics or professionals who work in the housing sector. Tenant voices are rarely heard. What Future for …Read more…
The cleaners and the oligarchs
Why solidarity with Syriza against the EU leaders is crucial If anybody can remember a new Finance Minister (anywhere in the world) beginning his first press conference by announcing he is going to reinstate the cleaners made redundant by the previous …Read more…
Tomlinson’s dishonest use of statistics
Credit where it’s due. Justin Tomlinson is consistent. He consistently attempts to mislead his electorate in relation to the employment situation in the town. Once again he is trying to con people by presenting the Job Seekers Allowance numbers as the unemployment level. Why does he continue…Read more…
Breaking the link between funding and social needs – local government finance
The funding of local government has been notoriously complicated, subject as it has been to constant changes by governments in the methods of funding. However, since 1929 “it has been used to some degree to promote equalisation – that is, to ensure that the funding available to local authorities…Read more…