Keir Starmer’s conference speech has rescued him from leadership challenges, for now; such appears to be the consensus opinion. Starmer certainly managed a stronger, more personable delivery than his more typical rabbit-in-the-headlights stance. But one minister told Channel 4 News that the mood amongst MPs was still sulphurous. And former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, … [Read more...] about Does Starmer have a vision?
UK
Political change across Britain and Ireland (2)
Politics happens not only between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, but across them as well. There is a British-Irish and an Irish-British politics, along with growing relationships between state and political actors in Scotland, Wales and parts of England with their counterparts in Ireland North and South. Such relations are built into the three-stranded … [Read more...] about Political change across Britain and Ireland (2)
Defence spending in GERS: anatomy of a myth
The Scottish Government’s Finance Secretary’s latest attempt to spin the GERS figures is both incorrect and misleading.The day the 2024-25 Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures were published, the Scottish Government put out a news release which included the following quote, attributed to Finance Secretary Shona Robison: “GERS allocates Scotland a … [Read more...] about Defence spending in GERS: anatomy of a myth
GERS 25: making Scotland pay for Starmer’s wars
It’s that time of year again. Merry GERSmas. The Scottish Government has published its annual report on revenue and expenditure in (and for) Scotland. What was once an almost festive affair in Scottish political circles (something that I likely had some hand in creating after my commentaries on the release went viral in 2015) has faded not quite down to the level of obscurity … [Read more...] about GERS 25: making Scotland pay for Starmer’s wars
Labour and ending poverty
The Labour Party has often been wracked by disputes over ideological differences, but there has always been an internal consensus among the various factional players that a minimal aim of Labour in government is to reduce poverty. Gaitskellite, Bevanite, Blairite, Brownite, Corbynite: all agreed that Labour had a distinctive distributional mission that sought to use the state … [Read more...] about Labour and ending poverty