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Tesco and the changing market structure in the groceries sector
Leave a commentOctober 24, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The table above tells the story of a company that is on the way down. After years of dominance in …
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£1bn a year in benefit fraud…£34bn a year in uncollected tax – which would you target?
2October 22, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
I was thinking of Anthony Crosland yesterday when the coalition government announced yet another crackdown on benefit fraud. In 1956 the …
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Winning on immigration will not win elections. Fact.
Leave a commentOctober 21, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
It’s all a bit odd. The Conservatives seem to think that they will win the next election by talking a …
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Banning smoking in Trafalagar Square and public parks…the next step to a complete smoking ban?
2October 20, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
In 2011, New York City introduced a ban on smoking in Central Park, in addition to all of the city’s …
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The Confected outrage at Lord Freud has shown politics at its worst
Leave a commentOctober 19, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
This week has been an utterly disgraceful one for politics. An unpaid advisor to the coalition government who is employed …
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Nicola Sturgeon faces a full inbox, even without the opportunity of independence
Leave a commentOctober 17, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
There were some existential questions for the Scottish Nationalist Party after the referendum was lost. If there is little chance …
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Lord Freud’s words were wrong. His economic analysis wasn’t.
Leave a commentOctober 17, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Fact, unemployment for disabled people has remained stubbornly around the 50% mark for decades. Here is what Lord Freud had …
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Cut inheritance tax whilst food banks are thriving? Really, David?
3October 16, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Just when I thought the Conservative Party had run out of ways to write the Labour Party manifesto, they have …
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Why has the fall in unemployment led to a FALL in tax receipts?
4October 15, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
In a fascinating article for the Times (click here to read), Ed Conway, the economics editor of Sky News, raises …
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Have we just discovered that the NHS is a Westminster bubble issue but not a voting issue
Leave a commentOctober 14, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Amongst the fall-out from the astonishing performance of UKIP on Thursday in the Heywood and Middleton by-election, it is possible …
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The House of Commons motion to recognise Palestine could be a major step to peace
1October 13, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Today the eyes of the world, and particularly the Middle East, will be on our House of Commons. Labour MP …
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A Conservative – UKIP pact may be have short-term benefits, but could be a long-term disaster.
2October 12, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
We are about to find out the extent to which the Conservative Party believe in power over all else. We …
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Lib Dems and Mental health care – the right target.
Leave a commentOctober 11, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Nick Clegg brought the curtain down on the Liberal Democrats’ conference with a centerpiece that surprised many, as there had …
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We have a UKIP MP, but what happened in Heywood and Middleton is far more significant
Leave a commentOctober 10, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
As expected, we wake up this morning with the first UKIP MP elected to the House of Commons. Douglas Carswell …
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Clacton-on-Sea and Heywood by-elections today – a foregone conclusion?
Leave a commentOctober 9, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Today, two sets of voters go to the polls to choose their MPs in by-elections. One, in Clacton-on-Sea (on the …
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When will someone in politics ‘do the right thing’ themselves and insist that the living wage be paid?
Leave a commentOctober 8, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
For the first time in British history, the majority of people classified as living poverty are in work. Low pay …
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Why the Lib Dems choosing who to go into coalition with could be fraught with problems
2October 7, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
As the Lib Dems spend time claiming full responsibility for all coalition policies that they like and no responsibility for …
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Unpicking the mansion tax
Leave a commentOctober 6, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Oh the mansion tax, the mansion tax, the mansion tax….it’s been talked about for a long time and now, given …
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The beheading of Alan Henning…a sign of fear or a piece of kamikaze?
Leave a commentOctober 5, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Alan Henning was watching TV one day and saw a piece on the news about Syrian children who had been …
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TTIP..the devil is most definitely in the detail
Leave a commentOctober 4, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a new free-market trade agreement between the US and the EU. At …
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Why are the Conservatives so happy about a set of policies that victimise the poorest so much?
Leave a commentOctober 3, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
As the smoke clears from the pep rally that this week’s Conservative party conference basically turned out to be, a …
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Cameron delivers a speech aimed at tightening the Tory defence of Downing Street
Leave a commentOctober 2, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
David Cameron made his pitch to the nation yesterday in his last conference speech before the 2015 General Election. The …
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George Osborne profile reminds us how human even our most senior politicians are
Leave a commentOctober 1, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Have a look at George Osborne’s face in the picture above. It was taken at the very point that he …
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UKIP policies – closely targetted at winning seats but not for a serious party of power
1September 30, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Just before the UKIP conference, the Labour Party released a press statement pointing out that UKIP were “more Tory that …
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Reckless’s defection to UKIP brings us a step closer to a complete realignment of UK politics
Leave a commentSeptember 29, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Mark Reckless’s reputation as a Eurosceptic was such that in 2010, before he had ever won a seat in a …
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UK votes to join airstrikes in Iraq – but at what cost?
Leave a commentSeptember 28, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
So the vote on whether to join in the air strikes on Islamic State (ISIL) was carried out on Friday …
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Logical fallacies and why a 50% threshold for a strike ballot should be imposed
Leave a commentSeptember 27, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Boris Johnson has raised the issue of strikes that he doesn’t regard as democratic. He points out that at the …
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The collapse of Phones4u gives us a look inside the mobile phone market – and it isn’t pretty
Leave a commentSeptember 26, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The collapse of Phones4u looks, at first, like something that isn’t in consumers’ interest. Given what they were doing, which …
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Think battling ISIL will reduce Terrorism? Think again
Leave a commentSeptember 25, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
As we await the fate of Alan Henning, a taxi driver who took time off over Christmas last year to …
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Ed Miliband – you forgot the economy, stupid
Leave a commentSeptember 24, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Ed Miliband forgot two sections of his speech today. One of his favourite party tricks is to memorise his speeches …
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Ed Balls’s Labour Party conference speech shows Labour think they might walk into Downing Street
Leave a commentSeptember 23, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
It was a strangely mute Labour Party conference today. There seem to be some strange rules in operation. The shadow …
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Ed Miliband must speak clearly about why ordinary people should vote Labour
Leave a commentSeptember 22, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
This week is the Labour Party’s conference. Conference season in the UK is a time when policy proposals are discussed …
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Why David Cameron might have been better off after a “Yes” vote.
Leave a commentSeptember 21, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
I have a feeling that David Cameron might end the next few months wishing that Scotland ahead indeed voted for …
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Farewell Alex Salmond, one of the greatest politicians of our generation
Leave a commentSeptember 20, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
There is a story that about two years’ ago, Alex Salmond requested a meeting with George Osborne, I imagine to …
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When (or because) push came to shove, it was a No
Leave a commentSeptember 19, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The recriminations have started. How could they have got it wrong. They thought it would be Ok, they thought it …
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An independent Scotland CAN be successful. But the rest of the UK must help them.
Leave a commentSeptember 18, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Amidst all of the dire warnings made by the NO campaign of what will happen to Scotland if they vote …
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Scottish referendum – Are we really getting the whole story from the mainstream media
3September 17, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
On Sunday there was a demonstration outside BBC Scotland in which an effigy of Chief political correspondent Nick Robinson was …
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Why is Devo Max being offered by the No campaign without consulting the British people?
Leave a commentSeptember 16, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
14 years ago I was sitting in a sales meeting at my old IT consultancy. We were attempting to persuade …
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It may be the teenage vote wot’ll win it
Leave a commentSeptember 15, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
As we near a referendum that is looking likely to be incredibly close, with polls published yesterday morning indicated leads …
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A written constitution – Would an independent Scotland close the democratic deficit
1September 14, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The Uk is one of the only countries in the world without a written, codified constitution. The UK’s constitution, as …
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Trade Union leaders’ “NO” not as much of a surprise as it may seem
Leave a commentSeptember 13, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
An interesting decision announced on Sunday was by the Trade Union leaders of Scotland to support the “NO” campaign. One …
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Who is the most principled political party leader in the Scottish Independence campaign?
3September 12, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
As the leaders of all the UK’s major political parties gathered in Scotland to try and persuade the Scots not …
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We need to act against Islamic State, at least whilst we still have some influence
Leave a commentSeptember 11, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Today, the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks which killed over 3000 people and launched us into what seemed to …
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It will be hard to build the Socialist Republic of Scotland if you are relying so much on other peoples’ money
Leave a commentSeptember 10, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
One of the reasons for the momentum that the “Yes” vote has been gaining has been the switch of allegiances …
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What would happen if an independent Scotland got rid of the Trident nuclear system?
Leave a commentSeptember 9, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
In amongst all the arguments, there are some issues on which I know many Scots agree, whether they are in …
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“YES” they can. Our last chance to persuade the Scots not to.
Leave a commentSeptember 8, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The galloping hooves of an impending constitutional crisis got much louder yesterday morning with the publication of the first official …
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Social mobility can be helped by levelling up, not levelling down
2September 7, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Of the people I know, it is only those who have already made it to the top or those who …
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Kansas tax cuts show that the Laffer curve works both ways
Leave a commentSeptember 6, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
Being a great fan of seeing economic theory in action, I can’t help revelling in watching what is happening in …
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It’s not whether you set pupils – but how you do it that matters
Leave a commentSeptember 5, 2014 by Paul Goldsmith
The “setting by ability” debate flared up again on Wednesday when Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, had …
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Politics and Economics comment. Co-Author of How to Lose a Referendum – the Definitive Story of Why Britain Voted for Brexit [http://bit.ly/2ryynRG]. PhD Student KCL – Parliamentary Scrutiny of 2015 EU Referendum Act. Economics and Politics teacher in London. 18 years teaching experience. Prior to that a management consultant. All opinions here are my own.
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