All of Andy Burnham’s instincts about putting the public sector at the centre of and recovery (and democratic renewal) strategy are spot on. The key questions are about how to make this deliverable. Everything hinges...
Blog
Alan SimpsonBurnham: the Once and Future King?
Britain’s crisis and the solutions Even before votes in the Makerfield by-election are cast or counted, progressive voices are pinning their hopes on Andy Burnham returning to parliament and rescuing Labour. It’s a big...
Lopsided Liberation – the hidden traps of hatred and division
Paulo Freire spent a lifetime in Latin America’s liberation struggles. He worked with communities brutally divided and oppressed by the rich and powerful. Literacy was his starting point but ignorance was the bigger...
Alan SimpsonCommon Insecurity – Britain in a world of political confusion
Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, in response to Trump/Netanyahu’s illegal war, has thrown the world into chaos. It triggered a cascade of crises that was long overdue. Sadly, we seem to be chasing all the wrong...
The Rupture – politics in the ashes of globalisation
It isn’t often I end up singing Keir Starmer’s praises, but keeping Britain out of an illegal war on Iran deserves some recognition. It is a war everyone will lose. In one sense Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu...
Drugs, democracy and distractions – the bigger issues behind Trump’s Venezuelan piracy
Forget drugs. Forget democracy. The real issue behind Trump’s pillaging of international law and the kidnapping of President Maduro is a last ditch attempt to save the dollar. Labour’s reluctance to say that the...
Pirates of the Caribbean
Trump and the new world disorder Let’s be clear. Donald Trump is not a Hollywood version of Jack Sparrow. His motivations are closer to those of Boko Haram than to international diplomacy. Seize what you want. Kill...
Running AMOC – the politics of complete confusion
How easy it is to be overwhelmed by trivia. In a faux collision between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, supporters of Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting fall out over who should lead the Labour Party. At the same time, Donald...
The Anachronistic Procession -Today’s politics of the lost
It is hard to understand the self-destruct buttons Labour seems intent on pressing at the moment. I don’t blame loyalists for springing to the defence of Keir Starmer’s lukewarm leadership. It is what you do when the...
“Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall …”
A new politics of friendship Oh no! Just when Keir Starmer should be rebuilding parliamentary friendships he goes and picks a fight with them. And the crime of these Labour rebels? – defending disabled people from...
