http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures Discussion and debate from the Centre left of British politics. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:27:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The number of Labour MPs deciding to go at the last minute as now reach epidemic proportions. Just near me, in the West Midlands, the last few days have bought news of Sylvia Heal's decision as well as Mark Fisher's decision. Many members will be frustrated by this not least because ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2010/03/falling-like-nine-pins/ The launch of the new Conservative green paper on Planning was buried on its launch day by Cameron and Coulson! Officially, they pulled coverage so not to detract from the battering Brown was taking over being a bully. But on reading the document I suspect that they simply did not ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2010/03/tory-watch-1-planning/ With the General Election only a matter of weeks away Labour is really bad shape financially. This is no secret of course but this week saw the announcement from the Electoral Commission that the Tories had raised over twice that of Labour over the last three months. Immediately Labour members ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2010/02/why-have-we-learnt-nothing-from-obama/ As we get closer to the next election it is understandable that people start looking for legacies. Life may look distinctly uncomfortable at the moment for Labour supporters — but there's no doubt that despite all of the disappointments there are some real achievements to very proud of.Legacies? They hardly ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/12/just-be-clear-%e2%80%94-this-government-has-done-some-great-things/ I shall be speaking at Sutton Coldfield tonight on Election Reform. The meeting is organised by Sutton Coldfield Labour Party who have invited the Lib Dems to take part. Moreover, this is a public meeting and you don't have to be a member of either party. All are welcome! Holly Trinity RC Church 69 ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/11/tonight-time-to-take-back-our-politics/ Today sees the publication of one of the most important pieces of work by the centre left over recent years. In Place of Cuts: Tax reform to build a fairer society was produced by George Irvin, Dave Byrne, Richard Murphy, Howard Reed and Sally Ruane and should mark an important milestone ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/11/in-place-of-cuts/ The Chilcot enquiry kicks off at last amid worries that it will not be a serious piece of investigation but something of a white wash. I wouldn't want to comment on this so early on and want to take things at face value ... ... but the room being used for the ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/11/chilcot-kicks-off/ I still don't really know what to make of the Queen's Speech. It has been described as being quite surreal and in many ways it was certainly bizarre. Why enshrine a legislative commitment to something when you've missed your own targets? And is the financial world so shaky that it ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/11/tory-complacency-may-yet-come-back-to-haunt-them/ There's no doubt that morale in the Labour Party is low and clearly it seems to me, is lower the closer you get to Westminster. A few weeks ago I was at a small seminar in a Westminster Department. Civil Servants were excited; we were to have a pep talk from ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/11/cutting-the-deficit-is-only-half-the-story/ It seems a long time since I've written anything half decent here. Lack of inspiration has been the problem and the whole expenses saga has taken its toll. But now the Kelly Report has been produced the General Election campaigns have begun and it seems sensible to take up the ... http://www.andyhowell.info/Political-Futures/2009/11/general-election-%e2%80%94-no-gain-in-going-short/