The recent Demos Report “Talk of the Town” seeks to highlight the very different “performance” of towns from their neighbouring cities. It has selected a range of measures through which to compare aspects positive and negative, to some extent social but more economic, through which to suggest how well each community is faring. I am not competent…
Tag: Tom Serpell
Why bother?
On Saturday, we marched. In May we campaigned. We blog We tweet. We try. But what for? A socialist, I live in a safe Tory constituency, rural and largely affluent. But there are people here as elsewhere who are not affluent, who need the support of the State, even just for a while. So should…
Sympathy to all Agents!
This is my first, perhaps only, foray into the role of Agent. This is for an excellent candidate in a safe Tory seat, with probably less than a dozen Labour activists across the whole sprawling constituency. No experience; no people; no money; no realistic hopes beyond unashamedly showing Labour’s colours and values to the heathen;…
Overcoming the Media
It is a given that the majority of the Press has a right-wing bias and that it defends the Establishment. Insidiously, though, this has worsened under the current ultra-reactionary government such that the spin peddled by the latter has become the orthodox, even for the supposedly neutral BBC (but look at the inclinations of their…
The Left has no realistic Kip-like alternative
The idea of UKIP’s ghastly representatives being electable is repugnant but nonetheless appears to be growing in reality. Tories in particular, frustrated that their party is not quite unpleasant enough, can now see an alternative to entrust with their votes. This has been available for years but has only now become a real option because…
Alternatives to Government borrowing and regressive taxation
Chancellors are wont to use marginal tax rates both to fund public services and national debt repayments and to appeal to voters according to their political priorities. Their changes are then reversed by their successor. This rather fruitless game leaves the poorest majority in society as the pawns in a game, always far more affected…
Why does Labour: Coast & Country Matter?
Why does Labour Coast and Country matter for me – and my local friends here in Sussex by the Sea? Well, the name is the clue – it is relevant to where we live. But why do people like us in places like this need another organisation? Let me explain my personal viewpoint. I am a…