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Theme : politics
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How far will Cameron draw the political parallels?
While attention has been focused on The Royal Academy in Stockholm the past couple of days for the Nobel prizes, David Cameron should note that there are some even more interesting things going on over in the Riksdag.
from : dompotter
19th October 2007
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Is there always a T in equality?
Reading Salon.com over the weekend I came across an interesting pair of articles, about the imminent passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) the first American federal gay civil rights legislation. It looks that for ENDA to be passed, proposed protection for gender identity will have to be removed and so only cover sexual orientation. In effect, this means that transgendered people will not be covered by the legislation.This has provoked a debate amongst activists as to whether...
from : faizalfarook
18th October 2007
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Everyday Democracy Today
During a conversation in the office the other day, we were discussing the place of Everyday Democracy in the current political climate. If there's any doubt as to it's present day relevance, here's Barack Obama a few months ago, explaining his decision to run for the Democratic nomination. He outlines his belief in the need for a new American politics, and that political renewal can only be achieved through the values of everyday democracy. It would be really interesting to hear what other...
from : faizalfarook
16th October 2007
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A Crucial Engagement
Engagement with political Islam is not a question of if, but of how
from : peterharrington
15th October 2007
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Who's afraid of the Respect Party?
I've got an article in this month's Renewal arguing that the government's approach to Britishness (broadly characterised as an attempt to agree upon what we agree upon) needs to focus more on the areas where we disagree. Attempts to 'construct' Britishness in a top down, stage-managed way is producing a vision so content-lite that it is emotionally unengaging. We need to acknowledge the problems and conflicts created by diversity and then work through them together. It's only by embracing the...
from : rachelbriggs
21st September 2007
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Can the west wing work in the west end?
Radio 4 is airing a new drama called 'Number 10' this Friday, which is sort of trying to do for UK politics what 'The West Wing' did for America. The really interesting question is whether the British public can swallow a positive portrayal of politicians as morally serious people who are genuinely trying to do their best in challenging circumstances. I hope the drama's author, Jonathan Myerson, can pull it off. He's done a nice prospect article that includes this unfashionable, but rather...
from : simonparker
5th September 2007
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Collaboration is the key to better services
Labour has been good at creating consensus around goals, but its great failure has been a lack of agreement about how to reach them.
from : simonparker
15th June 2007
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Taking the politics out of public services (again)
Cipfa's incoming president John Butler recently became the latest in a long line of mandarins and wonks to argue that politicians just get in the way of delivering good public services. The answer to this problem is always the same - an NHS constitution of sorts, semi-independence for as many services as possible. It's easy to see why these demands are being made. Blair's ceaseless reform of the NHS in particular has shown a shocking lack of strategic thinking and created a vast amount of...
from : simonparker
15th June 2007
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Good politics and bad art
It's becoming commonplace to talk about a revival of political art - just look at all the plays that have recently been written about evil Mr Bush and his lapdog Mr Tony. But is any of it actually any good? I've seen a couple of examples of the genre in the last week or two, and they leave me cold. Has good politics started to equal bad art?What sparked me off today was the picture at the centre of the Royal Academy's summer exhibition. Tony and Cherie are shown being expelled from no.10 while...
from : simonparker
4th June 2007
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Cameron vs Brown
Listening to David Cameron on the radio this morning as he explained why Grammar Schools are a bad idea (whilst simultaneously trying to explain why his shadow cabinet is full of old Etonians) it became clear to me what some of the opportunities and threats are for both sides in the battle between Cameron and Brown. The main threat for Cameron (and the opportunity for Brown) is that Cameron is trying to find a language that is sufficiently different from the Old Conservatives to have appeal...
from : grahamebroadbelt
22nd May 2007
