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Author: David Herdson

What Corbyn’s constituencies tell us about the class of 2020

What Corbyn’s constituencies tell us about the class of 2020

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Never mind the leadership, the PLP could be transformed One of the odder features of the Labour leadership election is that the nominations of constituency parties are firstly made and secondly reported. It’s odd because these are almost entirely meaningless given that they play no role in the process. They may be useful to observers if they represent the genuine view of the membership (which isn’t something to be taken for granted), and may help a candidate to build momentum…

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David Herdson asks: Where are UKIP’s 34 peers?

David Herdson asks: Where are UKIP’s 34 peers?

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An unreformed Lords shouldn’t be a closed shop for the old parties Sex, money and people in high places all make for a good scandal, as Lord Sewel found out to his cost this last week. And as usually happens when a member of the Lords gets into trouble, the opponents of the institution cite it as an example of the need for reform of it, or even its outright abolition. Not that there’s a chance of serious reform any…

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David Herdson on “Miliband’s leadership landmine”

David Herdson on “Miliband’s leadership landmine”

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Whoever wins is likely to be there for the duration There’s something in Ed Miliband of the apocryphal academic who when presented with a result he disapproved of, stated “it might well work in practice but it doesn’t work in theory”. More than once, proposals that Ed Miliband advanced had the look and feel of dealing with the world in abstract rather than the messy and contradictory one we live in. The reforms he initiated to Labour’s leadership process are…

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David Herdson says “Set the BBC free and let it flourish”

David Herdson says “Set the BBC free and let it flourish”

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We wouldn’t debate the ‘purpose’ of any other media organisation In all the debate about the terms of the BBC’s renewed Charter, one question seems to have gone unasked, never mind unanswered: why does the BBC need a Charter at all? The political reason why it has one is that it’s the flip-side of being funded by a tax, enforceable in law and if it has that right then it must equally have certain duties. The current debate about what…

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Pax Osbornia: recasting the political landscape into the 2030s

Pax Osbornia: recasting the political landscape into the 2030s

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But he still won’t be prime minister It takes a staggering degree of self-restraint and of confidence to know that you plan to increase the minimum wage by more than 10% and to choose to say nothing about it during an election campaign. It also shows a fine level of political judgement. Had George Osborne done so, he would have been accused of panicking and of allowing Labour to set the agenda. He probably wouldn’t have been believed and if…

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Tsipras’ own goal is Cameron’s gain

Tsipras’ own goal is Cameron’s gain

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David Herdson on a crucial weekend If there were any doubt that David Cameron is a lucky politician, events in Europe this last week have again made the point. No sooner had he suffered a setback at the European Council, failing to win a chance of treaty reform, than the Greek government gives him (inadvertently, no doubt), a huge helping hand. The decision of Alexis Tsipras to commit his government to destruction by a method to be determined by the…

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Dave’s European Challenge has become very big and very real

Dave’s European Challenge has become very big and very real

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Cameron could win the vote and still lose his job Selling the deal to the country was always going to be the easy bit. The tough ask for David Cameron is selling it to his party. The outcome of this week’s summit is, in that sense, one step forwards and two steps back. Simply getting the issue formally into the EU’s ongoing agenda was an achievement but one that is heavily diluted by the acceptance that there’ll be no treaty…

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GrEUxit?

GrEUxit?

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Greece’s brinkmanship is risking its membership of the EU Quite why the received wisdom has taken root that should the Greek government default on its debts then it follows that Greece will leave the Eurozone is something of a mystery. Logically, the two do not follow at all. Several cities and even states in the US have defaulted without leaving the Dollar zone and while Greece is a semi-sovereign country rather than a province in a federation, which makes a…

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