For a century, the 'political left' has dominated the 'social left'. But in post-crash Britain, the balance is beginning to change. So argued Richard Sennett in the annual Compass lecture this week, prompting a lively discussion on the craft of co-operation.
As the legal aid bill reaches its final stage, Britain’s welfare state is set to take another debilitating blow. In this extract from ‘Public Service on the Brink’, Rebekah Carrier considers the obstacles that prevent lawyers working in the system from acknowledging the uncompromising reality of t
Today marks the final reading of the legal aid bill in the Lords. If - as seems likely - the bill goes through, 'ordinary people' in Britain will be shocked to discover how thin is their access to law when things go wrong. Deborah Padfield, whose work has for several years been funded by legal aid
Want the money you save reinvested in your local community? Want to get the benefits yourself, rather than shareholders creaming off the profits? Then why aren't you a member of a credit union? Louis Brooke of Move Your Money explores the growth of this localised initiative in the UK.
Scotland's greatest thinker, a world scholar and, we are proud to report, a regular openDemocracy contributor, is 80 this year. We wish him a long life! Gerry Hassan tells his readers in Scotland to honour him and Anthony Barnett provides a few links to some of his articles.
Leanne Wood, the newly elected leader of Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, brings with her a truly radical agenda. What was behind her unexpected victory, and will she bring her unruly party in line behind her key goals of socialism and independence for Wales?
There is no dedicated system or procedure in the UK for identifying stateless people and resolving their plight, so it not by chance that one of the words most regularly associated with the stateless is ‘hidden’. It's time the government stepped in, says Chris Nash
A British Muslim teenager is facing the courts for an alleged Facebook comment saying all soldiers should "die and go to hell". Will the white British soldiers now appearing to threaten Ahmed be served up the same justice?
Today the Chancellor presented his third budget since the Coalition gained power and ushered in the era of austerity. Tax expert Richard Murphy decodes a "really rather nasty budget" and ponders its gifts to the opposition.
"This year will either see us create a new, more plausible, basis for our shared life, or settle back into the old, dispiriting fictions." So says Dan Hind in a new e-pamphlet published by OurKingdom, invoking the spirit of Thom Paine and urging the 99% to reclaim the public realm. We interview th
Of course squatters are up in arms against the passing of a law that would criminalize squatting in residential properties. But will parliament also ignore opposition from legal experts, homelessness charities and the police?
