By Cllr Stephen Canning It’s Monday morning and Ellie’s recycling hasn’t been collected, frustrated she sends a DM to the council Twitter account on her way out of the house. Using geolocation it dispatches a drone to go collect the bag that was missed by the refuse collection and sends her a picture to show it being removed. Later, during […]
By Tom Hunt The idea of Civic Conservatism was central to David Willetts when he wrote his seminal text on Modern Conservatism in 1992. He presented the argument that for a Conservative, the key aim should be to reconcile support for free markets – which deliver freedom and prosperity – with the belief in the power and inherent worth of […]
Mr. Putin’s week started out bad when he left the G20 summit in a huff after Western leaders “ganged up on him” and turned worse after Germany announced they will not be making their 2020 co2 emissions target. It’s been a tough week for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. First the Putin regime was singled out at the G20 summit in […]
By Steven George-Hilley The fake Sheikh story shows how crime and journalism can get too close for comfort. There is also the terrible pain and suffering that tabloid journalism at its worst can inflict on naive people who are just as flawed as the rest of us “I have to tell you I have never been so nervous in my […]
Liam Fox, the former Cabinet Minister, has launched a new “One Minute Fox” website showcasing a series of policy videos including his views on welfare reform and the EU. Fox launched the new video service last night to a group of MPs in Parliament and said that the site was designed to engage the electorate and promote a positive Conservative […]
Why George Osborne’s push for a Wembley based NFL team would be great for the London and American Football By Matthew Gass I usually catch up on enough news during the day, through Today/City AM in the morning and some browsing at lunch, that I don’t feel the need to grab an Evening Standard on the way home. However yesterday’s […]
The Justice Minister, Chris Grayling, is guilty of one of New Labour’s most egregious sins, making unnecessary laws for soundbytes. The Malicious Communications Act 1988 is a monstrous pre-internet law that thoroughly criminalises vast tracts of speech, including jokes, smut, and the glorious English tradition of being thoroughly rude about people who deserve it; so long as these are done […]
Parliament Street’s Helen Chandler-Wilde on cultural solutions for Italy’s economy A month ago I moved to Milan from London for my year abroad at university. Not only are the economic differences immediately staggering (streets dead on a Sunday and my rent half of what it is in London for a much nicer room), there are also great cultural and political differences […]
By Matthew Gass Voters are giving governments less credit – and blame – for economic events Recoveries in the US and UK are, finally, becoming entrenched. However this has yet to yield dividends for the respective governing parties in their upcoming elections. In the US steadily improving job figures are have not given Barack Obama’s Democrats any reasonable prospective of […]
The Future of Direct Democracy
By Matthew Gass A potential referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU is taking a central role in the next general election. Therefore, it seems worthwhile taking a look at the role of referenda and direct democracy in British politics. This is especially true in the context of the recent votes on AV and Scottish Independence. Historically it has been […]
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