Category Archives: Politics
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Why tax credits are the sign that George Osborne has deficit desperation
Leave a commentNovember 11, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
We commonly assume that when a person is rooting around in the bins for food, they have reached a low …
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Why Syria continues to confound Cameron
4November 4, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Who’d be a Prime Minister? Faced with pictures of civilians dying in Syria, David Cameron has to make a decision …
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How economics and politics are causing our labour market to fail
Leave a commentNovember 3, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Nowhere is the tone of public discourse and the facts on the ground so different as the jobs market. The …
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How the House of Lords might help me look dinner ladies in the eye again.
8October 26, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I’ve been brought up to look everyone in the eye. Everyone, from Chief Executives to cleaners. But last week I …
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Why tax credit reforms are a “jobs penalty” on the very people the Conservatives affect to want to help.
4October 18, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The row about the Conservatives’ reforms to tax credit isn’t about politics. It’s not even really about economics. It is …
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Cameron parks Conservative tanks on Labour’s vacated lawn
1October 7, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Before I comment on David Cameron’s speech (to read it click here) – I was struck by these three responses: …
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Five thoughts about Jeremy Corbyn’s speech
1September 30, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Tactically, I guess, it should have been expected that Jeremy Corbyn would have wanted to shore up his base before …
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David Cameron, pig bothering, and the “non-denial denial”
1September 22, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In “All the Presidents Men”, a wonderful movie about the Watergate scandal, the Editor of the Washington Post, played by …
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Why new participants in politics need to listen more.
1September 21, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Speaking this week to the Press Gazette, Ian Hislop, the editor of satirical magazine Private Eye and star of BBC’s …
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Corbyn’s rail re-nationalisation is the right first policy, but the devil will be in the detail.
2September 21, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Margaret Thatcher didn’t privatise the railways. Her main intellectual guru on privatisation, Nicholas Ridley, didn’t think they should be privatised. …
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The furore over Jeremy Corbyn not singing the National Anthem is illiberal bullying
6September 17, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Is it just me who is concerned about the dangerously illiberal reaction to Jeremy Corbyn not singing the national anthem …
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Corbyn shows at PMQs that he CAN change how politics works
2September 16, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
When Jeremy Corbyn ran for the Labour leadership, he said that he wanted to change how politics was done. He …
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Trade Union Bill – don’t believe the hype!
3September 14, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Today Parliament has been debating, and will continue to debate, the Trade Union Bill brought forward by the Conservative Government. …
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Jeremy Corbyn has a clear mandate. Let’s hope he uses it properly.
Leave a commentSeptember 12, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Jeremy Corbyn’s landslide victory in the Labour leadership election, coming as it did with a 59% majority vote in the …
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Why are the Labour Party excluding people just because they share Old Labour aims and values?
1August 27, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
There’s a rather strange phenomenon going on in the Labour Party’s vetting process for their leadership election. They are attempting …
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It’s not what was in Jeremy Corbyn’s “Standing to Deliver” plan that matters. It’s where he launched it.
Leave a commentAugust 14, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
It has been almost year since a Labour politician stepped up to a microphone in Scotland without trepidation at the …
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The right-wing press don’t fear Labour if Corbyn wins. They just fear Corbyn.
Leave a commentJuly 26, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The most interesting reaction to the ascent of Jeremy Corbyn towards the leadership of the Labour Party has been that …
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The hotel kitchen scene that showed why Jeb Bush could have the best chance of winning the Presidency
Leave a commentJuly 20, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In May, Rick Lowry, the editor of The National Review, a right-wing fortnightly magazine in the USA, walked through …
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Are the right wing press getting Jeremy Corbyn’s PM chances all wrong?
Leave a commentJuly 19, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
As MPs set off into the sun for their well deserved six week holiday, the Westminster world was set …
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A government imposing austerity backed by 24% of the electorate is a legitimate as 250,000 people marching against it
Leave a commentJune 24, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Last weekend (20th June) there was an anti-austerity march in Central London. It was reported variously that 250,000 people …
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If Bernie Sanders drags Hillary left she may win the Primaries, but lose the Presidency
Leave a commentJune 21, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In recent years it had been the Republican Presidential hopefuls who have had this problem. Faced during the a …
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EU referendum – What David Cameron can learn from the West Wing
Leave a commentJune 16, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In the ‘West Wing’ there is a scene in which the White House Communications Director CJ Cregg describes how the …
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How Labour should respond to Osborne’s plan to legislate for budget surpluses during growth
1June 11, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Given I have been stating for a while now that Labour should not have arrived at the 2008 recession, …
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Charles Kennedy – the most human of politicians
Leave a commentJune 2, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
To anyone who argues that Politicians are all the same I give you Charles Kennedy. Despite having spent his entire …
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Why “Right-to-buy” Housing Association properties will never happen
2June 1, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I would have loved to have seen the Conservatives’ manifesto planning whiteboard. I can imagine there were quote a few …
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EU referendum – the importance of the question
Leave a commentMay 29, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
It would be easy to think that words don’t matter. But they do in the case of a referendum. …
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Queen’s speech just as notable for what wasn’t in there as for what was
Leave a commentMay 27, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The Queen, who will become the country’s longest serving monarch on September 9th, has just delivered her 62nd Queen’s …
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Why the next Labour Leader may just be rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic
Leave a commentMay 21, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
So we are to be denied the opportunity to see a public school educated history professor called Tristram try to …
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UKIP civil war could be a missed opportunity for the EU referendum
Leave a commentMay 20, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The civil war in UKIP rumbles on, with senior generals on one side of the fence stepping down. You may …
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The Greek government is learning what happens when you treat the public like children
Leave a commentMay 19, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Good news, I have just received a mandate from my loyal subjects not to pay back my mortgage. In the …
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Interesting initial statistics on voting behaviour at the 2015 General Election
Leave a commentMay 18, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Using Lord Ashcroft’s post-election polling and comparing with previous voting statistics gives us some interesting findings. Summary Conservatives’ previously large …
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Why Labour would gain from explaining why they overspent in Government
Leave a commentMay 18, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The candidates for the Labour Party leadership are already organising themselves into two groups on Labour’s economic record when …
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Why we are unlikely to get a change in election system
2May 17, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The problems with trying to get a referendum on changing the election system (the way in which votes are …
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Why Ed Balls is a loss to politics
2May 15, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
In amongst the carnage last week was a result that made me sad. Ed Balls lost his seat in Morley …
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Farage is back – good or bad for UKIP?
Leave a commentMay 14, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
So, Nigel Farage is back. Already. Despite the media’s spluttering over it being a “backtrack” on his promise to resign …
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“We must look deep into our souls but we mustn’t open our veins” – What Labour should do next
Leave a commentMay 13, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The election result unleashed a torrent of ferocious anguish from the North London bien-pensant metropolitan elite that was so full …
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The end of the Liberal Democrats?
2May 12, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The Liberal Democrats are trumpeting the five thousand new members that registered with them in the aftermath of their defenestration …
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First Past the Post – Disproportional Representation or Producer of stable government?
Leave a commentMay 11, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Let’s start with the two graphs above. On the left are the actual seats won. One the right are …
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5 Challenges for David Cameron
1May 10, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
1) Delivering a manifesto that may have been designed for coalition – I wasn’t there when the manifesto was written obviously, …
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Thank you
2May 9, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Wow – what an election! To those who say politics is boring or is irrelevant or doesn’t engage people, there …
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Why Labour lost
5May 8, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I’m sure many people with far more knowledge of these things than me will attempt this over the next few …
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The day Esther McVey lost her seat (clue, it wasn’t today)
Leave a commentMay 8, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Esther McVey didn’t lose her Wirral West seat today, Esther McVey lost her Wirral West seat on December 18th 2013. …
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5am questions- The Lib Dem meltdown and a possible Tory Majority.
Leave a commentMay 8, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I write this just after a massive moment. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable, one of the most powerful people …
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5 Midnight thoughts after the three Sunderland results.
Leave a commentMay 7, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
1) The Pope is Catholic and Labour have won three seats in Sunderland. 2) The good news for Labour is …
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YouGov Poll has a different prediction. Sounds more right, but might not be.
Leave a commentMay 7, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
Just when the Twittersphere was about to go into meltdown with rumours of a Labour coup to get rid of …
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Exit Poll: If it is right we are in for a massive shock.
Leave a commentMay 7, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
If the exit poll that has just been announced is right, we are heading for a Conservative Government. The exit …
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It’s polling day! – Five things to know about today
2May 7, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
1. Rules for the poll booth – For those of you for whom today is your first opportunity to vote, congratulations, …
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How should I vote tomorrow? 2 – the Parties
2May 6, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
The problem for me is that I know too much. It is not a matter of conceit, but a fact …
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How should I vote tomorrow 1 – the candidates
1May 6, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I’ve been granted some level of significance in this election. As one of the lucky 100,000 swing voters in marginal seats …
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We need to talk about Privatisation
1May 5, 2015 by Paul Goldsmith
I’ve read a lot this past year. When I decided to write a blog every day from May 7th last …
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