There are many different kinds of magic trick, but for all of them, one technique is the most important: misdirection. Of the many practitioners of such magic, David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, is one of the best.
As Nick Clegg prepares to make a statement that will either end the scandal of child detention by the immigration authorities, or make the deputy prime minister a mere bagman for more Home Office trickery, Clare Sambrook gathers five years of evidence that the Home Office has variously ignored, ba
Wikileaks showed that the incoming British government was desperate for American approval, perhaps they should rethink their education cuts
The distributional aspects of the UK government's loans/fees package looks attractive
How could parliament ram through the fees increase in three hours plus a short session in the Lords tomorrow?
A sweeping response to Peter Kellner's argument for Labour to be the party of the British people and the call by Neal Lawson and John Harris for a 'New Socialism'
The explosive conflict over higher education demands a rethink across British society about what it should deliver and who should pay for it.
Driving the new wave of protests in England especially is a generational divide that is economic and cultural: the system traded on the alienation of the young from it but it was never mere passivity and now it started to erupt.
The Big Society must articulate its vision and define its expected outcomes, or face fading from the political landscape.
The ‘new ruins’ – poorly designed and shoddy shopping malls and mass-produced housing – are ubiquitous throughout our cities. Ken Worpole finds that Owen Hatherley is a witty and erudite gazetteer of terrible mistakes, but wonders if the acerbic author is as fair as he could be
A student protest in central London reveals the ugly face of an unaccountable government and the angry one of an alienated young generation, finds Delwar Hussain.
