Throughout this year ‘Labour Affairs’ has been making two connected arguments. The first is that the national economy is not like a household. The state can mobilise resources by issuing its own currency, it need not worry about debt and deficit if it is strengthening the productive powers of the economy, creating skills and jobs … Continue reading Editorial 1— Labour’s Road Back.
Month: June 2021
Editorial 2 Hartlepool – Labour’s False Narrative
Starmer addressed his first Labour Party conference as Labour leader in September 2020. He stated there that ‘it’s time to get serious about winning’. In the Hartlepool bye-election on 6th May, a year after Starmer took over the leadership from Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour vote declined by 45%. It is interesting to compare that result with Corbyn’s result … Continue reading Editorial 2 Hartlepool – Labour’s False Narrative
Labour and the Housing Crisis – Part 3.
Council housing, the welfare state and local democracy By Eamon Dyas “The Welfare State is a form of government in which the state protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of the citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for citizens unable to avail themselves of … Continue reading Labour and the Housing Crisis – Part 3.
What am I going to do next? Young People and Unemployment Part 6:
How to start Dave Gardner Providing jobs now is necessary to avoid a long-lasting blight on young people’s lives. But what should happen next? What people want is not difficult to describe: Reasonably well-paid, secure and interesting jobs Good training and further education opportunities A safe, secure and attractive environment Good leisure amenities Quality housing … Continue reading What am I going to do next? Young People and Unemployment Part 6:
Labour—A ready-made recipe for success?
Peter Brooke What do Mark Drakeford, Labour First Minister in Wales, and the two Labour Metro Mayors - Andy Burnham in Manchester and Steven Rotheram in Liverpool - re-elected in the North of England have in common, apart from getting the best results for Labour in the recent elections? They all signed up to Gordon … Continue reading Labour—A ready-made recipe for success?
The Labour Party blames Israel for the failure to achieve a two-state solution
The Labour Party’s reaction to the military action by Israel against Gaza was extraordinary. One could be forgiven for thinking that Jeremy Corbyn had been reinstated as leader of the party. Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lisa Nandy, set out the party’s position in a letter to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on 15 May 2021 [1] before a ceasefire was … Continue reading The Labour Party blames Israel for the failure to achieve a two-state solution
REVIEW Jim Moher: Walter Citrine, Forgotten statesman of the Trades Union Congress
JGM Books, 2021. A SENSE OF DIRECTION It is, or it could have been, a happy coincidence that Jim Moher's biography of Walter Citrine has appeared so soon after Andrew Adonis's biography of Ernest Bevin. If Adonis's book wasn't so obviously an attempt to recruit Bevin to the Blairite/Atlanticist warmongering wing of the Labour Party … Continue reading REVIEW Jim Moher: Walter Citrine, Forgotten statesman of the Trades Union Congress
Michael Rosen and Labour Against Antisemitism
Once Upon a Time — A Case of Selective Outrage Once upon a time, the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in a welcome break from an arduous political campaigning trail, was photographed at the public reading of a book, in the corner of what looks like an infants’ school. The audience gathered at his … Continue reading Michael Rosen and Labour Against Antisemitism
Quantitative Easing and Inequality
Q.E. and Inequality Parliament Notes Has QE created more inequality? This was one of the questions examined by the Lords Economic Affairs Committee on Quantitative Easing. (See list of all questions examined below). Some witnesses, such as Paul Tucker, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, thought that QE did increase inequality. The present Governor, Andrew Bailey, … Continue reading Quantitative Easing and Inequality
Violence in Israel and Palestine
Violence in Israel and Palestine, Debate in the House of Commons, 12 May 2021 Parliament Notes (2) [Extracts from the Debate] Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP) The Government’s response to this and every other episode in Palestine is completely inadequate. The Palestinians have lived under brutal oppression and apartheid from Israel with the … Continue reading Violence in Israel and Palestine
Notes on the News
By Gwydion M. Williams Starmer’s Bland Strategy Loses Votes — Who Fears to Speak of 1945?— Covid-19 – the New Right Plague— Snippets Big Bill Is Harrassing You?— Bitcoin - a Coin Fit For Crooks?— Fond-of-Money Syndrome?— Neutralists OK With China— Yes, Insist on a Nanny State— A Pop Malaise?— Cameron of Greensill— Bad News Is … Continue reading Notes on the News
Hartlepool Results
In 2017 the Tories polled 14,319 in Hartlepool and lost.Labour polled 21,969.On 6th May this year, the Tories polled 15,529 in Hartlepool and won.Labour polled 8,589!The Tories gained just 1,210 votes but, with Labour hemorrhaging 13,380 votes, Labour effectively gave it away. The survation poll that predicted a Tory victory in Hartlepool also said that 67% favoured … Continue reading Hartlepool Results
Labour Affairs 