What is the real nature of the government's legislation on higher education; what will be the consequences; and what relationship does it have to reducing the deficit? An important exchange on this issue is taking place here, between Alan Finlayson and Tony Curzon Price. Now a striking contributio
Without massive ongoing public support the banks will fail. We should take the consequences seriously, they extend much further than bonuses
The measuring of official policy by its impact on the quality of human life is progress. But only if the governments that proclaim the idea are serious, says David Boyle.
A friendly movement of flash protests against corporate tax avoidance when much needed public support is being cut captures public interest in the UK
Thursday’s narrow victory on the tuition fees bill marked the first major blow to the Coalition. The bill passed, but at a price of serious internal division within the Liberal Democrat party, and having given rise to a nationwide protest movement, raising a number of important issues beyond highe
This essay traces the cultural embodiment of the British state in ‘English Literature’ in the period from 1790 to 1810, its uses and abuses, and the demise of this seminal metaphor for the ‘nationless nation’ which began in the 1970’s. The latter period saw a post-imperial unravelling of the cultu
The Lib Dem working peer and former vice-chancellor of Ulster University explains why he defied his party and the government to vote against the Higher Education reforms.
This week we lead with news of an horrific abuse of power by undercover narcotics agents which saw the unlawful killing of an innocent 92 year old woman and attempt to cover up the crime. The Report also discusses US prison reform, the new UK Government Drug Strategy with analysis from some of the
Some political journalists are like weather vanes – they indicate the direction in which attitudes among the pack and the political class are blowing, and hardening into established opinion. Gavin Esler’s interview with Alistair Darling on Newsnight was revealing for what it told us about the medi
After the passing of the tuition fee legislation through the Lords, many students in England feel abandoned and voiceless. They should remember the initial betrayal of their interests in 2004, when the undemocratic decision to impose tuition fees on English students went unchallenged by the NUS.
There is a vindictive streak, pleasure and glee even, on the left about the political disarray and electoral collapse of the Lib Dems. However it is not in the interests of progressive politics, or even of Labour, for the Lib Dems to collapse into anarchy or disunity.
Yesterday, the Guardian published Anthony Barnett's damning analysis of a document being hailed as the foundation of a codified constitution.
