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It's almost two years since former Labour leader and writer Michael Foot died. It seems relevant to question his political legacy for both current and future generations. One cannot see many existing members of the current Shadow Cabinet as…
By Carl Rowlands Jesuit monks, underestimated educators in their own right, have always argued that if you give them the child for seven years, they will give you the man (or woman) afterwards. Wordsworth said that the 'child is the father…
By Carl Rowlands It might surprise many to discover that the Educational Maintenance Allowance was first suggested by Labour nearly 25 years ago. In Labour's manifesto for the 1987 general election, there is a promise that: "There will be…
By Carl Rowlands I'm not sure that Ian Silvera's interpretation of Jonathan Rutherford and Maurice Glasman's work is a fair reflection of the original authors' intentions. Yet, as with the 'Big Society,' the devil is in the detail. To some…
By Carl Rowlands We now know that David Cameron wants a state which consists of little more than security services and judiciary. Conservative ideas of 'localism' amount to little more than a superficial gloss on a massively centralised…
By Carl Rowlands Technology is politically and socially ambiguous, but it is never neutral. Humans design the machines and the software which provides the interface to the machines. Television, for example, lends itself to broadcasting…
By Carl Rowlands Whenever the Co-operative Party appear on LabourList, as they have done in the recent past, I must confess, I am both glad and anxious. Glad, in that they are raising the profile of the co-operative movement, of which I…
By Carl Rowlands Whilst in Europe, many social democrats have become pessimistic about their abilities to influence social realities, other parts of the world have been more confidently building a version of socialism for the 21st century…
By Carl Rowlands A recent article in the Guardian has vividly illustrated the extent that the British workers movement became entwined in Cold War machinations during the post-war period. We're talking about millions of dollars, much of…
by Carl Rowlands The leadership election, with competitors currently limping to the start line, is not currently poised to address the existential issues that face the Labour Party. How can we reconcile Labour's historic commitment to…
By Carl Rowlands There's one thing on which we can all agree: it's time to reconsider the future of the Labour Party and its overall direction. We should start with honesty. For the last fifteen years, despite some massive electoral…
By Carl Rowlands Phil Woolas' mistake in attempting to tie "brownie points" to "subjecthood" is understandable and yet somehow indicative. The clumsy attempts of the Labour Government to define Britishness as a cultural entity have been…
