Ed’s inbox – March 21st

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

If Ed Miliband could only read five blogposts each day, he’d read these ones…

What are your private sector horror stories? – Liberal Conspiracy
By Owen Jones

Bloated. Inefficient. Wasteful. Pampered. Manned by the lazy and incompetent; administered by shameless fat cats with salaries that make the Prime Minister look like a pauper. All-expenses paid trips to exotic locations. Non-jobs like ‘Executive Officer to Protect Endangered Snakes’.

This is Britain’s public sector, if the relentless campaign of bile directed against it by the Conservative Party and their allies in the right-wing media is to be believed. In a political campaign with few parallels in modern times for either genius or audacity, this axis has transformed one of the greatest private sector disasters in human history into a crisis of public spending. – Read more.

We Didn’t Vote for This – Diary of a Benefit Scrounger
By Sue Marsh

Bestest-Niece (22) has decided she wants to go on the “March for the Alternative” on Saturday. Not only does she want to go, but so does her flatmate and two of her friends.

These are four young people who suddenly talk about politics. A lot.

Since last May, if the bus is late or the milk is sour or someone has a hangover, the standard response in their shared flat has been to shake one fist and mutter darkly “Cleeeeegggg!”

Recently though, this has turned to bewilderment, and at at times, horror. A generation who, until now, haven’t really thought about politics much at all are suddenly finding that it does matter to them. – Read more.

Libya – where next? – Left Foot Forward
By Frank Spring

International operations against Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi began last weekend and continue to escalate.

As more partners contributed forces to the coalition, US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that the international force, led in fact by the United States at the moment and in rhetoric and principle by Britain and France, had established the No-Fly Zone and effectively stymied the advance of Qaddafi’s army on the rebel town of Benghazi. – Read more.

The Conservative Assault on the Homeless – Huffington Post
By Johann Hari

The day after his wife’s funeral, Steven Dent walked out of his house, “and I just kept walking,” he says. “I walked and walked. I never stopped. I couldn’t stand to look back, or to stop moving, ever again.” Now, four years later, he sleeps most nights under a bridge near Victoria Station in central London, and spends his days on the streets or in the day-centers, trying not to think about her. He says he can still see her face, but everything else about his life back then is a blur. He remembers fighting in the Falklands war, and Northern Ireland. He remembers some of his fellow soldiers, and wonders what became of them. But mostly he remembers the walking. – Read more.

Going for growth – Progress
By Will Straw

After raising Gladstone’s red box on March 23, George Osborne will claim that he has delivered a budget for jobs and growth. But unless he sets out a role for government in promoting growth, of the kind set out in the forthcoming book Going for Growth, the chancellor will fail in his self-proclaimed mission.

When asked about its policies for growth, the government replies that it is cutting public spending, cutting corporation tax, and cutting regulation. These are three shortcuts that won’t work. – Read more.

Our suggestions for Ed’s inbox are limited by what we read – so if you’ve seen a blogpost that should be in Ed’s inbox, let us know.