Browsed by
Author: Editor

The Brazilian futures market

The Brazilian futures market

Comments 0 Comment

Wikimedia Commons Dan Hamilton takes an early look at Brazil 2010 On Sunday 10th October 2010, Brazilians will go to the polls to pick the country’s fourth directly-elected President since the resumption of civilian rule in 1985. The 2010 elections will mark the first Presidential election since 1989 in which incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former shoe-shiner and sheet metal worker, will not be a candidate. Choosing not to emulate the example of Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe or…

Read More Read More

Lessons from the European Elections

Lessons from the European Elections

Comments 0 Comment

A guest article from Sean Fear The only good thing about the form of proportional representation used for the European Elections last month is that it allowed people to vote with their hearts, rather than their heads. There was no need to vote tactically. People just voted for the party that they most agreed with. Overall, the results were very good for eurosceptics. 25% of the vote went to parties that wished to withdraw from the EU, and a further…

Read More Read More

Government of the Neophytes?

Government of the Neophytes?

Comments 0 Comment

Could many newbies step straight into ministerial jobs? After yesterday let us assume a Conservative majority at the next General Election and if the betting markets are right then the incoming government would have upwards of 350 MPs. Of those only about 195 are Conservative MPs at present but taking account retirements and other factors only about 175 of the expected 350, about half, will have had any experience of serving in Parliament – a proportion that would increase if…

Read More Read More

And tonight’s Marf cartoon…

And tonight’s Marf cartoon…

Comments 0 Comment

  Our resident cartoonist makes a welcome return Marf, great to have you back on PB – more of Marf’s work can be found at LondonSketchbook.com. The return of Our Genial Host from his Spanish break is now imminent – on behalf of the editorial team it’s great to have him back, and can I also say a very big thank you to Morus and David who have taken the lion’s share of covering PB while Mike has been away,…

Read More Read More

Tories with 16-point lead from Ipsos-MORI

Tories with 16-point lead from Ipsos-MORI

Comments 0 Comment

CON 40 (+2) LAB 24 (+3) LD 18 (-1) “Others” fall as we move further from the Euros A new poll from Ipsos-MORI shows the big two parties gaining most as the high support for Others around the time of the Euros continues to ebb away, with the Conservatives up two points to the key threshold of 40, and Labour climbing three up into the mid-20s. The decline for the share of “Others” (down 4 to 18 – Greens &…

Read More Read More

Swine Flu: What impact in Norwich North?

Swine Flu: What impact in Norwich North?

Comments 0 Comment

Is there a mechanism for delaying by-elections? News from the BBC indicates that Chris Ostrowski, the Labour candidate in Thursday’s by-election in Norwich North, has collapsed at home and been taken to hospital with suspected Swine Flu. Firstly, I’m sure we all wish him a full and speedy recovery – hospitalisation denotes a degree of seriousness, and I have no doubt that partisan feeling can be put aside to wish him the very best. That said, this could be significant…

Read More Read More

So where next for the British Left?

So where next for the British Left?

Comments 0 Comment

Can a new consensus be found? Last night, I attended the launch of the Open Left project – run by James Purnell MP on behalf of the think tank Demos. Purnell was joined by Jon Cruddas MP, Will Hutton, Jess Search of Channel 4, and Lewis Iwu (recently OUSU President and tipped as a future Labour leader if Shadsy is reading). The project has a simple aim – to redefine what it means to be Left wing in the face…

Read More Read More

Why this and why now?

Why this and why now?

Comments 0 Comment

Is this about McBride, or the Guardian v Coulson? The interview of Damien McBride in today’s Guardian Media section is an immediate New Entry in the canon of rehabilitative interviews. The full gamut of human emotions is put on display – personal horror, regret, resignation – a truly masochistic apology, topped with remorse and the inevitable father-analogy for Brown. But the mea maxima culpa covers only half of the interview – from there we have various reasons and side-swipes: his…

Read More Read More