Category Archives: politics

Jeremy Corbyn and the double struggle

Posted on 20 August, 2015 by

Jeremy Corbyn‘s campaign for the Labour leadership is about doing things differently, about re-discovering the basic Labour values of social and economic justice, but in a way that harnesses the knowledge, commitment and energy of the many, in the changed … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, politics | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Politics as action research? Corbyn, People’s QE, and Syriza.

Posted on 28 July, 2015 by

Politics as action research? Corbyn, People’s QE, and Syriza. These brief thoughts have been triggered by the Jeremy Corbyn campaign to be Labour Party leader, and by Syriza’s negotiations with the Troika. First Labour. There is a lot being written … Continue reading →

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Responses to the Ecomodernist Manifesto

Posted on 7 May, 2015 by

Responses to the Ecomodernist Manifesto (3/12/15:  I update this piece as new material comes in). I recently came upon An Ecomodernist Manifesto, and was staggered by the scale of its unwarranted assumptions and errors. It argues that the malign human … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Labour’s legislative programme – is it enough?

Posted on 3 May, 2015 by

Perhaps it’s a little early to analyse Labour’s legislative programme, but it is important that we know something of the extent, and lack, of the party’s ambition. The ten proposed bills were announced in a Guardian article by Ed Miliband … Continue reading →

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The critical voter’s dilemma

Posted on 14 April, 2015 by

Further to my recent post on the forthcoming elections, here is my algorithm (flow chart, decision tool) to help red-green voters make their decision at the UK General Election this May. click here for the pdf version of the voting … Continue reading →

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Economics is for Everyone: Paul Mason – a quick reaction – Post-Crash Economics Society

Posted on 4 April, 2015 by

Economics is for Everyone: Paul Mason – a quick reaction – Post-Crash Economics Society. I wrote this reaction to Paul Mason’s talk in Manchester on request from the Post-Crash people following some comments I made on the talk via twitter.  … Continue reading →

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Democracy, planning and a socialist health service.

Posted on 6 March, 2015 by

Further to my piece on Manchester’s “Health Devolution”, I thought it worth returning to something I wrote over 4 years ago, in rather different times.  The question that I didn’t try to answer in last week’s piece was “what’s the … Continue reading →

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DevoManc, DevoMancHealth and the perils of techno-fixes.

Posted on 28 February, 2015 by

Now syndicated on the Socialist Health Association blog         This week’s big news in Manchester is that the devolution of direct responsibility for significant areas public spending to the city-region will now be augmented by the devolution … Continue reading →

Posted in Manchester, NHS, politics, social policy | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

On compromise

Posted on 22 February, 2015 by

Years ago it occurred to me that some compromises can take you to new places while others confirm the status-quo.  This table comes from a book now out of print on a relatively specialist topic (1).  But maybe it is … Continue reading →

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Hubble, bubble, double struggle: the coming elections.

Posted on 3 January, 2015 by

Hubble, bubble, double struggle: the coming elections. I’ve been meaning to write something on the elections for a while. But this is not so much about the elections as about the approaches on offer. Which elections anyway? My main focus … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, economics, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments