Urging a 'revising of New Labour', The Purple Book refuses to acknowledge the mistakes of the Blairite era. What it does show is that Britain is in a new age of 'colour politics', where flux and confusion reigns as we struggle to find an alternative to market fundamentalism.
A tobacco corporation is attempting to access confidential data on teenagers' smoking habits, obtained by university researchers. Just one case where Freedom of Information benefits companies against the public interest.
Already this academic year student activism in Scotland is flourishing again. It owes a huge debt to the historic occupation of Hetherington House. Two students recall the seven-month occupation, which ended last month.
Following a two-week trial for protesting against tax avoidance, an anti-cuts campaigner asks who the real criminals are: herself and her fellow protestors, for taking direct action, or those telling the British public that there is no alternative to the government's stringent austerity programme.
At the Liberal Democrat conference last week, the party listed their achievements as the junior partner in the Coalition. Ending child detention was on that list. But this is a lie.
Some of the companies moving in on the British public sector are among the most unethical in the country. Of these, those entrusted with the care of asylum seekers rank with the very worst.
For Labour's new leader to win and make a difference, change in Britain has to come from below and not from Westminster - argues one of Ed Miliband's close advisers in a new pamphlet timed for the party conference - and a veteran campaigner disagrees. In a swift exchange of emails they clash over
With the advent of ‘talking’ CCTV cameras, our surveillance society has reached new levels: we are no longer simply watched, but also 'told off' for 'bad behaviour'. Whatever happened to the civic spirit!
Michael Bullen argued against Jeremy Fox's charge of "blackmail by the wealthy" with respect to the campaign in Britain to abolish the 50p tax rate. Here, the author returns to the attack, proposing that the evidence suggests that 50p is, if anything, too low a tax for the welfare of all
Under the proposed NHS reforms, English citizens will be less able to gain information about their health service.
Developers are rubbing their hands in glee. Soon, the presumed decision on any planning application in England will be "yes". What does the government have to gain from pushing through these reforms, unpopular with their own voters and the wider public?
Today, local authorities in England have a 'duty to involve' citizens in decision-making. Soon this will be scrapped, leaving only the 'duty to consult'. What is the difference, and what does this mean for English democracy?
