Richard Brooks has degrees in philosophy and economics, and has worked for several years in a London investment bank. He has since pursued research interests at the LSE and for the Labour Party, focusing on economics, welfare, industrial policy and the public services. He is currently a member of the Social Policy team at the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Recent articles

Their second electoral defeat has seen the Conservatives embrace a language of freedom – over drugs and censorship as well as hunting. The Labour government, cast as illiberal during its first term, seems less interested in the issue. This is a mistake: convincing people that the state can enlarge people’s freedom will be a vital task of Labour’s second term.

The British election campaign is no time for philosophical argument. Even so, Tony Blair explicitly rejected the idea that overall growing inequality should diminish. A bleary-eyed young Millbank organiser emerges into the sunlight to ask: can the left afford to agree with him?

And are there Big Macs still for tea? Richard Brooks returns from exile to take the pulse of the city that spawned a cliché.