Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): Gordon Brown has been coming around to the case for giving more tax powers to the Scottish Parliament for some time, as Brian Taylor notes, but last night's speech to the Scottish CBI puts fiscal devolution more firmly on the agenda.

"First of all," he told Scottish business leaders, "devolution has worked but I do see one problem. While there have been good reasons why this is so, the Scottish Parliament is wholly unaccountable for the budget it spends but not for the size of its budget. And that budget is not linked to the success of the Scottish economy. That is why we asked the commission to look carefully at the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament and this is a critical part of Calman's remit."

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): Over at the Independent's Open House blog, Steve Richards argues that unless they can spell out an alternative agenda, Charles Clarke and those who think like him will only make Labour's problems worse:

Those who want the removal of Brown have three obligations in the coming weeks. First, they must spell out in detail how they would deal with all the external factors that have derailed Brown’s leadership, in particular the credit crunch and the soaring price of oil and food. Second, they must spell out in more detail their policies for the future and how they connect with a party that is supposed to be on the centre left of British politics. Third, they must demonstrate that they can build a popular coalition of support that gives Labour a chance of winning the next election. Read the rest of this post...

04 - 09 - 08

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): As much as Charles Clarke deprecates talk of 'Blairite plots' against the Prime Minister, his article in the New Statesman today will inevitably be seen in that light.

However it is worth noting some less predictable and more interesting elements, notably a significant departure from New Labour orthodoxy on foreign policy:

Liberal interventionism must be underpinned by military force, but its moral authority was undermined by the glacial progress in preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the ill-considered determination to renew Trident.

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK):  Back in August, Borders and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne provided the theme for our summer limerick competition, when he recalled how "In my conversations around Britain, I met an especially eloquent lady in Edgbaston. She said, ‘We can learn to live together, if we only put our minds to it.’ I think she is right. And I think we should approach this task with an air of great confidence."

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): The Scottish Government revealed its legislative programme for the next year today. The centre-piece was Alex Salmond's announcement of "abolition of the oppressive council tax in favour of a fair local income tax, bringing much needed relief to household budgets."

Over at Conservativehome, Tory MSP Derek Brownlee raises a number of searching about the assumptions behind the SNP plan for a local income tax rate of 3p in the pound. Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): The All Wales Convention holds its third meeting in Cardiff Bay today. As the Western Mail's Martin Shipton notes, it's been a slow start for the body that is meant to consider the case for more powers for the Welsh Assembly. Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

In his latest contribution to OurKingdom's debate about the future of the UK, Gerry Hassan points to the limits of nationalism as a response to neo-liberalism. Scotland's nationalist leader Alex Salmond has inadvertently whipped up a media storm by arguing that Scots 'didn't mind the economic side of' Thatcherism. The furure has exposed the contradictions of a country where mainstream politicians are as united in tacitly accepting Thatcher's legacy as in publicly abominating her policies.

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): The Guardian brings us news of the latest edition of Progress magazine, in which Skills Minister David Lammy makes Labour's latest attempt to develop a line of attack against David Cameron:

The truth is that the Tories' change in language has touched a nerve, reflecting a big gap in our own political narrative. Yet beneath Cameron's rhetoric lies the basic philosophy that failed Britain in the past. The Tories demand responsibility without offering support; they appeal for fraternity without any real belief in equality; they have finally noticed 'society,' but remain implacably hostile to the state.

Over at Comment is Free, David Marquand suggests that the Tory leader won't be so easily pinned down Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): If The Scotsman is to be believed, Gordon Brown is set to take the advice of Iain MacWhirter rather than Martin Kettle over the fortcoming by-election in his Fife backyard:

A final decision has not yet been taken, but it is understood Labour leaders favour either Thursday, 30 October or Thursday, 6 November for the contest.

The November date is the favourite simply because it comes only a day after the expected result of the American presidential election, and if Labour was to lose, party managers believe the bad news would be partly buried by the US coverage.

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28 - 08 - 08

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): Over at Comment Is Free, Paul Kingsnorth reflects on his recent OurKingdom debate with Vron Ware, and re-states his left-wing case for English nationalism:

because the English, unlike the Scottish, the Welsh or the people of Northern Ireland, have no political focus for their concerns, they have nowhere to turn to express them. What can happen when such a focus does exist can be seen north of the border. The last decade has seen a transformation of Scotland, as a direct result of the creation of a Scottish parliament.

Of course, the Scottish Parliament is itself the product of decades of political mobilisation. Scottish nationalists had no political focus either until they created one. Perhaps the first step for progressive English nationalists is to figure out how to follow that example.

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): It seems the Westminster/Holyrood faultine inside the Scottish Labour Party extends to the question of whether there should be a UK football team at the 2012 Olympics.

Gordon Brown held out that prospect during his visit to Beijing at the weekend:

'I think when people are looking at the Olympics in 2012 - Britain, home of football, where football was invented, which we gave to the world - I think people would be very surprised if there is an Olympic tournament in football and we are not part of it.'

Scottish Labour leadership candidate Cathy Jamieson has proposed an alternative plan:

"One option could be a home nations football tournament with the winners representing the UK at the Olympics."

Jamieson added: "Team GB should include a football team but not at the expense of Scotland's football team. It would be wrong to gamble with the identity of Scotland's team."

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): In a key intervention in the 42 days debate last month, the former head of MI5, Baroness Manningham-Buller stated: "arguments can be made to justify any time of detention, just as in other countries, although mercifully not here, they can be made to justify any method of interrogation."

That remark elided key questions about how far the security services are complicit in interrogation practices overseas, questions which were raised anew in a High Court judgement on Thursday. Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): OK's summer limerick competition (details here) has reached the halfway mark. There still a week to go until August 30th for anyone who wants to trying their hand at bringing out the latent poetry in Liam Byrne's prose. Here are some of the best entries so far: Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): 'One World, One Dream' is the official slogan of the Beijing Olympics, reflecting "the common wishes of people all over the world, inspired by the Olympic ideals, to strive for a bright future of Mankind. In spite of the differences in colors, languages and races, we share the charm and joy of the Olympic Games, and together we seek for the ideal of Mankind for peace."

It has long been argued, (classically by George Orwell), that such lofty ideals only serve to conceal the close relationship between nationalism and the sporting spirit. Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): Three young British Muslims convicted on terrorism charges this week, possessed the "biggest computer library of extremist material ever seized by British police," The Guardian reports.

Over at our sister-blog terrorism.openDemocracy, Tim Stevens examines the resulting focus on the internet as a conduit for radicalisation:

As the British government seeks to strengthen its stance on stamping out home-grown terrorism, it has zeroed in on the internet as a target for regulation and interdiction. Such an approach suggests both a misunderstanding of the internet itself and of the role that online behaviour plays in radicalisation and, ultimately, the creation of dangerously violent individuals. Wrong moves against wrong targets will eventually prove counter-productive. Read the rest of this post...

21 - 08 - 08

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): Shadow chancellor George Osborne launched a bold attack on one of Labour's traditional strengths in The Guardian today, charging that the gap in life expectancy between rich and poor in Britain is at its widest since Victorian times:

When it comes to developing a policy agenda that delivers fairness and social justice, the Conservative party is leading the political world away from the target-driven, top down, statist approach that Miliband pioneered when he ran the Downing Street policy unit. That approach is failing because it relies on a flawed assumption that only the state can guarantee fairness. Read the rest of this post...

20 - 08 - 08

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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): It's an interesting reflection on the rise of the database state that some of the best reporting on UK civil liberties these days can be found in the pages of online I.T. magazine The Register.

In the latest example, writer John Ozimek follows up the case of former head teacher John Pinnington, which he argues "takes the UK one step closer to becoming an 'informant society' along the lines of the former East Germany or Soviet Union.
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Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): The Scottish press is full of speculation this weekend that former First Minister Henry McLeish has been sounded out for the Labour candidacy in the Glenrothes by-election. 

The Sunday Times reports:

Senior party figures are alarmed that Henry McLeish, the former first minister who resigned in disgrace in 2001, has emerged as a frontrunner for the vacant Glenrothes seat, following the death of John MacDougall, the Labour MP, last week.

Some local activists and members of the British government believe McLeish may be the party’s only hope because he is a popular figure locally, having represented the area as an MP and MSP.  Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): 'When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions', said Shakespeare, and his dictum seems to be holding true for the Scottish Labour Party at the moment. Today's Scotsman suggests the party could be faced with defending a third by-election this year:

Labour leaders at Holyrood are waiting for Jack McConnell's decision on when he intends to stand down as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw so he can go to Malawi as the UK's High Commissioner. Read the rest of this post...

Tom Griffin

Tom Griffin (London, OK): As OK noted last month, the extension of detention without trial to 42 days is not the only worrying measure in the Counter-Terrorism Bill which is currently making it's way through the Lords. Today's Times suggests there is mounting opposition to the drastic restrictions on inquests under the proposed legislation.

Lawyers, opposition MPs and pressure groups have told The Times that the move represents a fundamental breach of the right to a public inquiry into a death – a centuries-old mainstay of British justice. 

They said that a full-scale campaign is being prepared to block the provision, which granted the Home Secretary unprecedented powers to intervene in the workings of the judiciary.  Read the rest of this post...