Why I hated Margaret Thatcher
by Kevin Meagher This is the point where I am tempted to begin by arguing that you should love the sinner, but hate the sin and critique Margaret Thatcher’s record rather than her personally. But...
View ArticleCameron needs to show the Conservatives have moved on from Thatcher
by Mark Stockwell The events and policies that defined Margaret Thatcher’s premiership politicized much of the current generation of politicians. The legacy of her time in office, and the manner of her...
View ArticleDear Labour MPs, Thatcher was the enemy. Use today to explain why
by Kevin Meagher Every Labour MP I’ve ever met – every one – has got to where they are in politics by trading on their hatred of Thatcherism. Many affect back stories of hardship to impress selection...
View ArticleThe real lesson of Thatcher for Labour
by Jonathan Todd Toby Helm and Daniel Boffey wrote in the Observer, the day before Margaret Thatcher’s death was announced, under a headline of “Labour plans radical shift over welfare state payouts”....
View ArticleThatcher’s legacy and the politics of blame
by Jonathan Roberts The past couple of days have been absurd. As a centrist, I have looked on with quiet respect, but also with head in hands as ideologue after ideologue lined up to offer their views...
View ArticleWe deserved to hear a rounded account of Thatcher yesterday. We didn’t.
by Kevin Meagher In the Thatcherite spirit of free enterprise, the chamber of the House of Commons was leased out yesterday for a private wake as Tory MPs used the occasion of Margaret Thatcher’s death...
View ArticleFor pity’s sake, stay at home tomorrow
by Ian Stewart For the past week those of us who remember the 1980s have been in our own ways reliving them. It has been neither a pleasant nor edifying spectacle to watch friends and family tear lumps...
View ArticleNaiveté is a weakness in all walks of life but in politics, it’s deadly
by Rob Marchant Major political events which blow all other news out of the water, such as the death of Margaret Thatcher, tend to do two things. First, they make us take a step back and take stock, to...
View ArticleThe last few weeks have shown politics at its worst: tribal, divisive and ugly
by Peter Watt Sometimes politics is a noble and even beautiful pursuit where words can capture a moment and inspire. Just think of Martin Luther King on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 or...
View ArticleIs Labour going back to the future?
by John Braggins Back in the day if you were bored you could go to the pictures at 3pm for the first showing and stay there until they turned the lights off after the last showing. The projectionist...
View ArticleCorbyn at the Adelphi: Vintage 80s nostalgia that would deliver a vintage 80s...
by Richard ScorerLiverpool, Saturday evening: 1100 people cram into the Adelphi ballroom to hear Jeremy Corbyn. My political identification is old Labour right, and I’m probably voting for Liz Kendall,...
View ArticleCorbyn’s calls for unity are rank hypocrisy. Don’t be surprised if they go...
by Sam Dale“Unity is our watchword,” says Jeremy Corbyn on his campaign website as he sets out his plan to heal the party after a bruising leadership contest.On the site he has a “unity statement” and...
View ArticleLabour desperately needs a soft left revival
by Trevor FisherThe Labour leadership campaign was a traditional selection process, despite extraordinary features.While the Corbyn surge and the tripling of numbers entitled to vote flowed from...
View ArticleBrighton Rock: A tale of two Labour conferences
by Pete Bowyer On the surface all seemed well. Or as well as could be, given the circumstances. There was no vote on Trident. John McDonnell pretended that the overthrow of capitalism was no longer one...
View ArticleActivist or MP, it’s time to take a stand
by Jonathan Todd“Criminals were victims of the capitalist system. The police were agents of repression. Riots were popular uprisings against capitalist injustice.” These, according to Peter Mandelson’s...
View ArticleThatcher’s rotten government was only interested in discord and division
by Kevin MeagherIt’s not just the low-fi racism of Oliver Letwin’s 1985 memo to Margaret Thatcher that appalls. His dismissal of the “bad moral attitudes” of young Black men following the Broadwater...
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