Articles
Friday, September 15, 2017
The tragedy at Grenfell Tower was no simple accident. It was the result of the willful actions of local and national government who got rid of fire safety requirements, hived off management of housing, cut public services and failed to listen to residents and take action on the lessons of a previous tower block fire. What is the real value of human life in capitalist Britain today?
Thursday, September 14, 2017
New US sanctions against Russia are a blatant attempt by the United States to pursue its economic interests in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in opening up supplies of gas to countries in the region. However, this not only threatens Russia's interests, but also those of Germany, Austria and the European Union. Germany and Austria have protested vehemently against the sanctions. The region remains volatile, with Ukraine still a flash point.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
First published in The Conversation UK. Labour's election strategy involved taking advantage of the requirement on broadcasters to give fair and equal coverage to Jeremy Corbyn, to make extensive use of social media to counter the right wing print media and to to turn perceived weaknesses into strengths. This involved taking risks such as Corbyn's speech after the Manchester terror attack where he questioned whether the "war on terror" was actually keeping us safe.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
The SNP lost far more seats than it expected to in the General Election and it now has major problems. Largely due to Corbyn's positive national campaign and despite a negative campaign by Scottish Labour the Party won an additional 6 seats. Though the Tories were the main beneficiaries of the SNP's decline if Scottish Labour learns the lessons of Corbyn's campaign then it could again be the biggest party in Scotland.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
There was an increase of 5% in the number of people voting in London in the General Election. The swing to Labour, however, was more than twice that demonstrating that it is winning over voters across the board and in the process gaining 4 more seats. It now holds 49 of the capital's 73 seats.
Monday, September 11, 2017
Despite Labour's much improved performance across Britain it still lost 5 seats in the north of England. Even though these were lost vote share for Labour improved and the losses were largely due to UKIP voter going to the Tories.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Mansfield and North East Derbyshire were two of the seats Labour lost at the General election, despite increasing its vote share. Whilst there were local factors at work and changing demographics, the principle cause was the strong support for Leaving the European Union among the electorate. As in other parts of the country the UKIP vote collapsed and largely went to the Tories and here that was sufficient to enable them to win the seats.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
The Saudi war in Yemen is causing a humanitarian disaster and is being supported logistically and through the sale of arms by the United States and Britain. However, opposition to the war is growing and Saudi credibility and its strategy in the area is being undermined.