The Greenhouse
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Memo to CCHQ – don’t dismiss Cruddas
Max Wind-Cowie says Jon Cruddas' appointment represents more than a tack to the left.
Jon Cruddas’ appointment as Labour’s policy Csar has been met with bog-standard dismissiveness by the Conservative Party. Baroness Warsi – the Conservative Party’s usually excellent co-Chair – described Cruddas as a ‘former union man’ as though his past affiliation with the trades union movement somehow automatically disqualifies him from being taken seriously. This contempt is a very bad mistake indeed. First of all, it sma...
Justice for the cameras
Max Wind-Cowie warns against the public spectacle of announcing criminal charges at press conferences.
Today Rebekah Brooks, her husband and various of their staff were charged with offences related to the investigation of phone hacking. Fair enough. I don’t know whether they’re guilty and it would be quite wrong (not to mention, I believe, illegal) for me to speculate on the likely outcome of any trial. What bothers me is that the Crown Prosecution Service decided to announce their decision via the medium of a live press conference. I’ve blogged about this disturbing new tr...
Filters are not the answer
Jamie Bartlett argues that parents must take responsibility for how their children use the internet.
Today the Open Rights Group released a new report on default mobile internet filters. These filters are default blocks on certain sites set by Internet Service Providers, which prevent access to them. Although the report is specifically about mobile filters, the broader argument is about internet censorship. Much of the debate about censorship comes down how we can protect children from inappropriate content - especially pornographic material - while maintaining internet freedom. But a...
Iron Ladies
Beatrice Karol Burks looks at the gender wars in today's politics.
Halfway through his second year in office, it became fashionable to claim that the Prime Minister and his party have a ‘problem with women’. Female voting intentions favoured Labour for the first time in years, public sector cuts meant fewer part-time roles (predominately held by women) and a quick scan over the front bench revealed a less representative picture than most would hope for. But the omissions of this summary analysis were two-fold: firstly that filling a party with f...
In defence of ‘snooping’
Sebastien Feve teases out the complexities involved in the security services' use of social media intelligence.
With an inquiry into the government’s use of social media for surveillance and security purposes well under way, it has never been more important to make the distinction between non-intrusive and intrusive social media intelligence (SOCMINT) clear to both the British public and the security authorities. From surveying Facebook group members to the content analysis of tweets, social media contain a wealth of big data that can already be accessed freely, by public and private bodies, for...
The test for Ken
Rob Whitehead says Ken must be judged on whether he out-performs the Labour vote on the Greater London Assembly.
Once the dust has settled on today's election, and, as looks likely, Boris Johnson settles back into the Mayoral suite on the 8th floor of City Hall, the post-mortem on Ken Livingstone's campaign will begin. For me the acid test for Ken candidacy is clear: did he out-perform the Labour vote on the London Assembly? In 2008 there was an unpopular Labour government and Ken polled 37 per cent in the first round, and Labour secured 28 per cent in the Assembly vote. A net Ken 'bo...
Ten proposals for the mayor
Ben Rogers outlines ten proposals for the mayor's next term.
Over the past ten days Centre for London has published ten policy ideas for London. On the eve of the Greater London Authority elections we now publish them in full. The mayoral campaign has been almost exclusively focused on immediate ‘bread and butter’ issues – fares cuts and police numbers, council tax rises and tax breaks - with little attention paid to longer term challenges facing London and ways of addressing them. Of course bread and butter issues a...
The case for youth courts
Ben Rogers argues that youth courts could increase young people's respect for the criminal justice system.
In the run up to the Greater London Authority elections on 3rd May, Centre for London will publish ten policy proposals for London – one a day over ten days. In selecting these, we have identified policies that are: Significant ideas that would make a substantial contribution to tackling London’s challenges; Practical – could be introduced over the next four years, before the next election; Cost-neutral – could be introduced wi...
Stop accepting the unacceptable
Beatrice Karol Burks outlines Demos' new report Ending Forced Marriage.
Forced marriage is a hidden epidemic in the UK with an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 forced marriages every year. Around 41 per cent of victims are under 18 years old. The figures are vague because often, the first time concerns will be raised about a possible case of forced marriage is when a girl fails to return to school after the summer holidays. The problem is difficult to detect and can suffer from the obscuring haze of misplaced cultural sensitivities deterring key adults, like...
Review black cab and taxi services in London
Ben Rogers says that London's black cabs could do with a revamp.
In the run up to the Greater London Authority elections on 3rd May, Centre for London will publish ten policy proposals for London – one a day over ten days. In selecting these, we have identified policies that are: Significant ideas that would make a substantial contribution to tackling London’s challenges; Practical – could be introduced over the next four years, before the next election; Cost-neutral – could be introduced wi...
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