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Why re-mutualisation is the only option for Northern Rock

By Paul Appleby / @paulmappleby The campaign to re-mutualise Northern Rock, led by the Co-operative party, has gathered momentum in recent months. It has evolved into a high-profile Labour Party manifesto pledge and, more recently, it also has been supported by the all the Labour leadership candidates. It has also, and maybe more significantly, been deemed essential by the Building Societies Association (BSA) who argue that conversion into mutuals is the only viable option for failed banks. As a Northern...
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Candidates asked, "Where do you think the axe should fall?"

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Has anybody else changed their mind?

By Ben Fox It’s probably fair to say that the 2010 Labour leadership contest hasn't been the most exciting campaign ever fought. It's certainly been less fiery than the Tory battles in either 2001 or 2005, but I reckon that's probably because we are not as ideologically divided a party as the Tories were and, deep down, still are. But after three months of campaigning, the ballot papers are hitting our doormats. It’s decision time - and in my case,...
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An economic and political death match?

The Labour movement column By Anthony Painter History never repeats itself; at best it sometimes rhymes. So said Mark Twain and in immediate defiance of this dictum, the quote has been repeated over and over. So one more time is neither here nor there. It is not too extravagant a guess to suppose that this sentiment is applicable to economic history. And there are two predominant versions of economic history out there in the political market place. One is articulated...
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IFS says poorest hit hardest by budget: Labour reaction

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk Research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) released today indicates that the impact of the recent "austerity budget" will fall hardest on the poorest in society, and that the measures contained in the budget were "regressive". Labour figures have lined up this morning to lambast the government over the budget, and comment on the findings of the IFS. UPDATE: Speaking to Sky News, Ed Miliband said that the government has been "exposed" by today's...
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How Labour lost the debate over the economy

By Sunny Hundal / @sunny_hundal There's only one clear point in yesterday's ICM poll: Labour lost the economic messaging war with the Conservatives. Even worse: the people responsible aren't admitting their mistake or doing anything to remedy that. Imagine the scenario. Two opposite parties with different ideas on how to deal with the financial crisis. Labour took the decision to keep spending steady and support the banks to ensure the economy wouldn't go into meltdown. The message was clear: if...
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VAT hike will slash £20m from Welsh NHS

By Ann Jones I am sure that many of you reading this were as angry as me when George Osborne declared that VAT would rise as he laid out his emergency budget before the country back in June. Via a written question to the Welsh Assembly government, I have since discovered that the Welsh NHS is now set to lose out to the tune of £20.7m next year. The hike will see revenue budgets slashed by £13.2m whilst £7.5m will...
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Darling attacks Osborne's "fair" and "progressive" claims

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk After George Osborne's claims today that the recent budget is "progressive" and "fair", shadow chancellor Alistair Darling has fought back, saying Osborne will need more than warm words: "There's nothing 'pro-growth' about taking a huge gamble with the recovery - with people's jobs. And there's nothing 'fair' or 'progressive' about George Osborne's Budget hitting the poorest in our society hardest. He doesn't seem to understand that in government it's decisions, not warm words, that count."...
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Let's hear it from the boys

By Katie McCrory / @katie_mccrory The recent news that the Fawcett Society has filed papers with the High Court seeking a Judicial Review of the government’s recent emergency budget has buoyed the hearts of families all over the country. Families who sat down with their calculators at the end of Osborne’s speech and worked out just how much they rely on public services, benefits and tax incentives in order to break even every month. More importantly for me, Fawcett’s act...
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Labour's leadership candidates need to connect with the young through meaningful economic policies

By Matthew Pitt The numbers of bills that are steam-rolling through parliament so soon after the general election is indisputably breathtaking. It is, therefore, perhaps a good thing that the MPs are off on their holidays (in most cases this involves staying in their own constituencies) so that they can take a step back and review the past few hectic months and what possibly awaits them in the near future. The Lib Dems, for example, should perhaps use the time...
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Tax justice and mindless cutbacks

By Matthew Zarb-Cousin / @matt_zarbcousin Before the general election, the question of how to deal with the deficit highlighted the competing economic philosophies of the two major parties. As a Keynesian, I believe that cutting in a time of recession – or slow recovery – is counterproductive, a lesson Western civilisation should have learnt from the austerity measures imposed by Herbert Hoover in 1929. However, whether you believe Osborne’s austerity budget will lead to growth or not, the strongest evidence...
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Fawcett’s High Court challenge to the Budget is a wake-up call on gender equality

By Kathryn Perera / @kathrynperera The Fawcett Society has launched a landmark legal challenge to the emergency budget on gender equality grounds, seeking Judicial Review in the High Court. Fawcett’s main argument is that under equality laws (specifically the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 as amended), the coalition government should have assessed whether its budget proposals would increase or reduce inequality between women and men. Fawcett made repeated requests for the treasury to provide details of its ‘gender impact assessment’. Despite...
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Shadow cabinet to oppose AV: 8 in the morning - July 28th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk * The shadow cabinet has agreed to oppose the AV referendum, over "gerrymandering" and the election date. * David Cameron has come under fire after calling Gaza a "prison camp". * Is there a coalition split over immigration? * Emergency budget "increased" chance of second recession... * The police officer who "floored" Ian Tomlinson will face disciplinary proceedings. * Scale back Trident call from think tank. * Sunder Katwala on a great start for the...
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Britain's Lost Talent: Join the campaign

By Yvette Cooper MP Nothing better captures the Tory-Lib Dem government's return to Thatcherism than the shocking cuts they are making in jobs and support for the young unemployed. Just as thousands more young people hit the jobs market this summer, the government is cutting back the help for them to get work. 90,000 jobs through the Future Jobs Fund are being axed. And Labour's guarantee of work or training for every 18-24 year old on the dole for 6...
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Free schools "may increase social divide": 8 in the morning - July 22nd

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk * In an interview with the Guardian, Ed Balls says that free schools could cause "social apartheid" and undermine local authorities. * But Toby Young calls this a "desperate attempt to shore up his Labour leadership campaign". * The leadership race was always destined to be peripheral, says Steve Richards. * Sunder Katwala's first leadership profile - David Miliband. * Tom Copley looks at councillor nominations for London Mayor - and challenges Oona King's outer-London...
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Back to recession: 8 in the morning - July 21st

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk * The Treasury select committee have warned that the budget risks sending us back to recession. * Iraq radicalised young British Muslims and increased terror threat says former head of MI5. * Is the Big Society a cover for cuts? * "Grave mistake" - as Lansley considers his own "death tax", he must be regretting those election posters.... * Mark Steel on the next phase of New Labour - celebrity. * Will Straw has attempted...
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"Obama style" fundraising: 8 in the morning - July 19th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk * Ed Miliband raised £8,000 in small donations as he seeks to bridge the financial gap with his brother. * Ed Balls urges the coalition not to repeat the "folly" of the 1930's in the Guardian. * Jon Cruddas argues for constructive opposition. * Cruddas also argued that we need an elected chair - and that he'd be keen to take on the job. * You can read Cruddas's speech to Labour Friends of Searchlight,...
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There are alternatives

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982 One of Labour's great new MPs has shown some good leadership on the economy, and written an open letter to George Osborne outlining some potential economic alternatives to the Tory-Lib Dem emergency budget. Chuka Umunna, a member of the Treastury select committee, proposes four key measures that would help avoid the VAT rise: * Increasing the bank levy to raise £2 billion a year or more. * Extend the bankers' bonus tax to raise £2.5...
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David Miliband: Government risking our living standards

By Mark Ferguson / @markferguson David Miliband has accused the government of taking a "massive risk with all our living standards". Speaking to the Today programme, David said: "The government is trying to make us believe that if you don’t believe in the masochism of Mr Osborne then you’re in denial – we’re not in denial. We’ve got a growth plan and a serious plan to halve the deficit over four years." David sought to play up his credentials as...
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VAT rise: shifting money from the poorest to the richest

By Jon Trickett MP The finance debate this week has highlighted the wholly regressive nature of the coalition government’s budget and interventions from various Labour MPs have exposed their plans as a failure to reduce the government deficit. The House of Commons library itself has confirmed how regressive and therefore unfair an increase to VAT can be. As a percentage of household income, VAT accounts for 19% of the poorest 10% of the country’s income, in comparison to only 9%...
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