The funding of social housing provision (cont.): from 1890 to the first Labour Government By Eamon Dyas The Local Government Act of 1888 established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect in 1889 and with it the emergence of the London County Council. This 1888 Act was viewed … Continue reading Labour and Housing — Part 12
local authorities
Labour and Housing
Labour and Housing – Part 11. The funding of housing provision: from 1851 to 1890 By Eamon Dyas The relationship of housing provision to land and land value was examined in parts nine and ten of this investigation. What is proposed at this stage is to look at the history of local authority funding in … Continue reading Labour and Housing
Labour’s Vocational Education Policy
A New Beginning? Dave Gardner This journal has for some time bemoaned the Labour Party’s lack of interest in a matter of the first concern to working people, vocational education and training (VET). In Robert Halfon MP on the other hand, the Tories have a Minister of State responsible for VET who is exceptionally knowledgeable … Continue reading Labour’s Vocational Education Policy
Politics, the State and the Market in Land
LABOUR AND HOUSING – Part 10. Politics, the State and the Market in Land By Eamon Dyas A core component of the post-war political delineation between Labour and Conservative policies was formed around the question of the relationship of the State to the market. Ever since the foundation of the Labour Party this had been … Continue reading Politics, the State and the Market in Land
Labour and Housing, Part 8
Public rights and private land By Eamon Dyas In the previous instalment of this series I looked at the way in which the policies of the Thatcher government on housing revealed an ambition to go beyond the “Right to Buy” arrangements initiated in 1979. It was apparent from the context of those policies that Tory … Continue reading Labour and Housing, Part 8
Austrian Chamber of Labour
The Austrian Chamber of Labour as an instrument of workers' interests Eamon Dyas [Below is a brief account of the history and purpose of the Austrian Chambers of Labour. It was stimulated by a conversation I had with Florian Wenninger, of the Institut für Historische Sozialforschung at the headquarters of the Arbeiterkammer in Vienna on … Continue reading Austrian Chamber of Labour
Levelling up or Covering up?
Levelling Up or Covering Up? The government White Paper on levelling up. By Dave Gardner In 2019 the Tories won a general election largely on the basis of capturing seats that have traditionally sent a Labour MP to Westminster. These are for the most part seats in the Midlands and the North of England that … Continue reading Levelling up or Covering up?
The Destruction of Local Authorities as Housing Providers
LABOUR AND HOUSING – Part 7. The destruction of local authorities as housing providers. By Eamon Dyas Determining the economic discourse. The previous article in this series showed how building societies and banks were incapable of supplying mortgages on the scale required by the Tory Government’s 1979 Right to Buy scheme. It explained how local councils … Continue reading The Destruction of Local Authorities as Housing Providers
Labour and Housing
Labour and Housing – Part 6. The financial implications of the Right to Buy scheme By Eamon Dyas The Thatcher legacy that began as practical policies in 1979 and which continues to permeate British politics was based on a strategy consisting of three components. Firstly, the oft-repeated mantra of the need to roll back the … Continue reading Labour and Housing
University or bust Part 2
What am I going to do next? Part 11 Dave Gardner In part 8 of this series I looked at mass university education in Britain and concluded that it had some significant harmful side effects. This was not a whinge along the lines of ‘more means worse’, a snobbish slogan attributed to the novelist Kingsley … Continue reading University or bust Part 2
Labour and the housing crisis – Part 4.
Opposition to the Tory attack on council housing By Eamon Dyas The Right to Buy policy instigated by legislation in 1980 became the foundation on which the housing policies of successive governments over the past 40-odd years have evolved. But it is important to understand that this did not happen because of any organic evolution … Continue reading Labour and the housing crisis – Part 4.
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:
The Labour Party and Metropolitan Mayors – Editorial
If residents are not convinced that you have a practical plan for improving their lives then, no matter what money you promise them, they will not take you seriously.
What am I going to do next? Part 5
No or bad work experience can have long term scarring effects leading to long spells of unemployment, dissatisfaction in the workplace, the inability to build a career and a general cynicism about employers and employment. Even an adherent to ‘household economics’ should recognise the long term economic cost of failing to provide work and good quality vocational education and training that includes work experience.
What Am I Going to Do Next? Part 4: Colleges of Further Education.
What Am I Going to Do Next? Part 4: Colleges of Further Education. Dave Gardner What are FE colleges? This month I am going to look more closely at the infrastructure for vocational education and training in England and Wales to see how fit it is to tackle youth unemployment. I will then consider how … Continue reading What Am I Going to Do Next? Part 4: Colleges of Further Education.
What am I going to do next? Part 3
What am I going to do next: part 3? Youth Unemployment and the White Paper on Skills for Jobs Dave Gardner I’m interrupting the plan I had for this series of articles on youth unemployment to look at the just-published White Paper ‘Skills for Jobs: Lifelong learning for Opportunity and Growth’, which is both topical … Continue reading What am I going to do next? Part 3
Labour Affairs 