At the Cliff Edge – Part Three

Over Edge Part Three – the New Model (Economic) Army Addendum – 16th January 2019 Following the devastating defeat for the ‘May Brexit Plan’, the rejection of the futile scheme now means we have gone over the cliff. As the political consequences tumble from the Westminster table to the floor of the House, we will … Read moreAt the Cliff Edge – Part Three

Film, art, reality and Ken Loach

  Embed from Getty Images  From Jarrow into the future, the never-ending march!   Spending time and resources on re-location, post referendum, has been an interesting, if difficult,  process over the summer. France has been a comfortable destination, both in terms of culture and prospective places to live. Now we have now widened our search, … Read moreFilm, art, reality and Ken Loach

And so to France…

In Europe recently looking at both projects and for places to live. When looking for information on business services, buildings and local opportunities, the distinctiveness of the Mairie and its conditioning power in small local communities, was a powerful example of how local democracy, decision making and regard for both history and civic presence can … Read moreAnd so to France…

Borderless capital
and the consequences

This short Ted Talk, at TED Banff in Canada in June 2016, is by Gerard Ryle, exploring the way investigative journalists collaboratively exploited the leaked Panama Papers to cast light on the borderless nature of capital and how individuals and their secretive companies obscure both their holdings and their interests. What is interesting is how … Read moreBorderless capital
and the consequences

Vale Angliae

I was driving to my office in Cambridge on Friday morning (24th June 2016), from Suffolk and across the land of a large estate owner. The early morning sun was shining through the trees and looking, I saw the deer and pheasants abroad in the verges, seeking their early breakfast. Having an historical sensibility I … Read moreVale Angliae

Clarity in debate: The EU

In the short video below Professor Michael Dougan of the University of Liverpool, the School of Law, offers insights from his professional research on the forthcoming referendum. This is twenty minutes of exposition truly worth listening to. In his film Michael Dougan explains how the current, complex and historical engagement with the EU has benefited … Read moreClarity in debate: The EU

Speaking for Labour In

    In a recent speech Jeremy Corbyn succinctly laid out why those of us on the left should vote to remain in Europe. Connected interests, whether for organised labour, educational organisations, social justice or ethical, market driven enterprise…all are more powerfully able to argue their case collectively, rather than in isolation. In fact, the … Read moreSpeaking for Labour In

A long requiem for Europe?

Embed from Getty Images Heading towrds Europe?   The European Union, the European experiment, emerged in the Twentieth Century from an unimaginable horror of war and destruction. The notion that England would withdraw from this partnership, and the largest single economic market in the world, is an idea that is fraught with socio-political tension, community … Read moreA long requiem for Europe?

Struggle is the reality!

The mainstream press and right wing political opinion would have us believe that Britain is a nation of millionaires, with a quest to hermetically seal our borders, to the detriment of our trading efficacy, and that individual choice from a menu of abundance is the default position for all ‘hard-working’ families and households in the … Read moreStruggle is the reality!

Economic apocalypse? …a versioning

Embed from Getty Images  Afloat in the economic ocean?   Are we heading for a new depression, economic collapse or is the ‘great recovery’ under way? Thomas Carlyle is credited, in reference to the work of Malthus, as characterising economics as a ‘dismal science’. The truth appears to be more prosaic. Carlyle was, in fact, … Read moreEconomic apocalypse? …a versioning