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Immigration islands


The Return of Enoch: Enoch Powell's repatriation agenda must not be rehabilitated, argues Sunder Katwala.


The ugly economics of immigration: Paul Kingsnorth on why the left is out of step with working class interests.


Immigration and the Politics of Resentment: Shamser Sinha suggests the real problem is a politics that turns neighbour against neighbour.

MODERN LIBERTY



Digital Privacy Wars: Guy Aitchison flags up a debate on the threat business poses to digital privacy


The Stalker State: Phil Booth of No2ID on the proposed Comms database


Say 'No' to 42 days: Sign Amnesty's petition against extending pre-charge detention


What do we do now?: Anthony Barnett assesses the stakes for for liberals and radicals in David Davis's campaign against the erosion of rights and liberties


The Abundance of Caution: an authoritative essay by Anthony Barnett sets out the case against 42 Days

Sortition and public policy




A major new series from Imprint Academic on the use of randomisation in education, politics and other public policy areas. Special discount prices for OurKingdom and openDemocracy readers.

Labour After Brown

The next left -Life after the Labour Party: Gerry Hassan sees a historic opportunity for the emergence of a post-New Labour left.

Scottish Labour, where's the coffee?: Gerry Hassan assesses the prospects for Scottish Labour and its new leader.

Lesson for the Left from Chile to Britain: Hassan Akram offers a global perspective on Labour's malaise.

From Milibland to Johnson land?: Jeremy Gilbert argues for Labour without neo-liberalism.

Magical thinking on Britishness: Anthony Barnett critiques Liam Byrne on fraternity.

Rule of law at risk: Geoffrey Bindman calls for a turn away from the marketisation of government.

A new Bill of Rights for Britain?: Guy Aitchison analyses Parliament's proposed new Bill of Rights.

Miliband - by our rights we will know you: Claire O'Brien puts forward a new progressive vision for Labour.

Recapturing liberal Britain: David Marquand challenges Labour's constitutional orthodoxy.

Miliband and the Liberal Democrats: James Graham on the case for realignment.

What is Labour's British story?: Writing from Scotland, Gerry Hassan widens the OurKingdom debate on Labour's future.

This is not Brown's crisis but Britain's: David Marquand says social democracy is bust and Britain may be too.

The Challenges for Miliband's Progressive Fusion: Fabian Society head Sunder Katwala responds to David Miliband.

Fabian Society

America Votes, Europe Responds: Fabian Society conference on the US election result, Westminster Central Hall, 10am to 4pm, Saturday 8th November.

Visit the new Fabian Society blog: Next Left

England Awakes?

England, Britain and multiculturalism: an OurKingdom exchange

A mild awakening?, England's turn? by David Goodhart

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What happened in May

9 - 05 - 2007
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David Marquand (Oxford): The real significance of the May elections has to do with the dog that didn’t bark. We are now seeing an extraordinary change in the political culture of the British state, corresponding to the institutional changes carried through in Blair’s first term. Both in Wales and Scotland there is now a distinct political will, expressed in an through distinct legislative bodies. The emergence of such a will was always likely, but thanks to the unpopularity of the now utterly discredited Blair Government it has happened much more quickly than I expected. It is not a question of ‘nationalism’, still less of ‘separatism’. It’s a question of nationhood, which is a quite different thing. There is no reason of principle why the Labour parties of Wales and Scotland cannot be the vehicles of Welsh and Scottish nations. But to allow that to happen, the UK Labour Party would have to undergo a profound cultural and institutional revolution of its own. Failing that, ostensibly ‘nationalist’ parties have filled the vacuum.

But the real story is negative: why no English equivalent? It’s almost beyond dispute that England’s sense of nationhood has grown enormously in the last few years, largely in response to what has been happening west of the Severn and north of the Tweed. So far, however, it has not been expressed through the political process – except insofar as Cameron’s Conservative Party is de facto the English Nationalist party. But it seems to me clear that English nationhood will also be expressed politically, sooner or later. The great question for the future of British politics is when and how this will happen. But happen it will.

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Marcus Ferrar (not verified) said:

Fri, 2007-05-11 14:25

Marcus Ferrar (Zurich): A few words from the viewpoint of an Englishman who lives outside the U.K. and writes about Central Europe. At a function recently in Edinburgh, I heard compelling speeches about the value of the Scottish nation, but each speaker afterwards confided that of course independence would not be the right way.

I ask: why not have the courage of your convictions? In 1991 Slovenia broke away from Yugoslavia, not without risk. The Yugoslav army brought tanks out the day after, but some astute low-key resistance forced them to withdraw 10 days later. Not all Slovenes were convinced of the desirability of independence, but the referendum was clearly in favour and they just did it. The cost was a few nights cowering in cellars for fear of bomb attacks, but Slovenia has never looked back since.

Likewise the Czech and Slovak parts of Czechoslovakia decided to separate in 1993. To this day, nobody can detect a compelling need for this. They just never did not get on well together and acted in consequence.

These peoples of Central Europe have set an example of determination and acting without too much fuss and talk. Nobody today questions whether their acts were right or wrong. In hindsight, the main outcome was to give their citizens more of a feeling of control over their own destinies.

Likewise for Scotland, which seems the most ready for independence. If its people decide to go that way, that would not make huge changes to anybody's lives. It would incidentally serve the salutary purpose of obliging England to consider its own identity, hitherto left largely to football hooligans.

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