Write for us!Austerity politics
Time for a Liberal Approach to Fiscal Policy
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Fiscal policy in the UK needs a massive overhaul and indeed a fresh pair of eyes – a liberal, specifically Keynesian approach, would I believe, be a successful approach to treating the ills of the decaying UK economy. Taxation in the UK has become synonymous with overcomplexity and opaqueness: it’s time for a rethink. The British tax code is an incredible 24,000 pages long. To put that into perspective, Hong Kong’s is a mere 350 pages. Ironically, the complexity of the UK Tax Code appeals to the very rich, who can afford to employ advisers who help them to exploit…
Guns, Wealth and Welfare – Who Carries the Burden for Defence?
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The argument for democratic reform on defence, taxation and the social contract. Britain is in the middle of a debate about defence spending. On the surface, it looks like a straightforward question of national security; how much should the country spend, and how quickly? But scratch beneath that surface and a far more uncomfortable set of questions emerges: who actually benefits from military power, who is being asked to pay for it, and what does the answer reveal about the kind of society Britain truly is? The answers are not flattering. The welfare-for-weapons trade-off In early 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves…
This Stupid Tax Rule is Harming the Country and Needs to Go
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The Labour Government from 1997 to 2010 did many harmful things to the tax system. Although Gordon Brown when Chancellor of the Exchequer had a stellar reputation with much of the media, I always considered him a poor Chancellor. The reason is that he kept endlessly tinkering with the tax rules by introducing stealth taxes that he hoped people would not notice, but which had harmful side effects. However, blame for possibly the worst such stealth tax must be shared between Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and the late Alistair Darling who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer who announced…
Eyes right for the centre left
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For well over a century, centre-left politics has been the engine of progressive change in Britain – building the welfare state, championing civil liberties, advancing social equality, and managing the economy with both competence and compassion. Yet today, many who hold these values find themselves politically homeless, watching as the very ground beneath their feet shifts inexorably rightward. The centre has moved. And if you haven’t noticed, you might be standing further right than you think or indeed want. Consider where we are. The Labour Party, once the champion of social democracy, now operate within a narrower fiscal envelope than Gordon…
