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We love the NHS
August 13, 2009 12:36 AM
The debate in the us about healthcare seems to be getting increasingly insane, with Obama being compared to Hitler, Sarah Palin spreading lies about "death panels" and assorted nonsense. A repeat of the debate in the early 1990s when the Clintons attempted to introduce healthcare reforms of their own was to be expected, but this debate is decidely more wacky. One interesting side aspect of this debate has bee -
Celebrating 100 years of liberals fighting the 'taxpayers' alliance'
August 12, 2009 6:47 PM
Yesterday, obscure fact fans, was the 98th anniversary of the first Parliament Act*. The Parliament Act 1911 came about because of Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill's 1909 'People's Budget' which proposed paying for, among other things, the first state pension with a rise in taxation aimed mostly at the most wealthy - and in particular proposed establishing a land tax. The landed gentry wouldn't stand for that and, having control of the -
There is nothing random about local control of public services
August 09, 2009 11:56 AM
Both Sunder Katwala and Grant Shapps are quite wrong: not only is local variation a price more than worth paying for local control, but it would end the phenomena of postcode lotteries. "Postcode lottery" is a -
Steve Webb MP to respond to Jon Cruddas at Compass Summer Lecture
August 05, 2009 7:52 AM
Steve Webb MP will be amongst those responding to Jon Cruddas at the Compass Summer Lecture on the future of Social Democracy.On the one hand with the crisis of capitalism and the systemic failure of free markets, coupled with the election of Barack Obama in the United States, centre-left politics is getting far more interesting and it would seem that the opportunity for seismic change is greater now than at any point for a generation, indeed some including Compass have called this
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SLF Newsletter
July 31, 2009 2:57 PM
Dear friend, With Parliament now in recess for the rest of the summer, the Social Liberal Forum is gearing up for the conference season. We are also looking to growing our network, especially outside London. But to do that, we need your help. Would you like a speaker for your local party or student group? Would you like to know if there are any other social liberals living near you? Now is the ideal time to get involved. A Fresh Start – what do you think? The Lib Dems' p -
Matthew Sowemimo: don't misrepresent our radical agenda
July 29, 2009 6:18 PM
Matthew Sowemimo, Director of the Social Liberal Forum, has written a new opinion piece on Liberal Democrat Voice arguing for the party not to be timid in the way it presents its agenda:The party’s pre-election manifesto – A Fresh Start for Britain – is based around strong themes and ones that have t
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Lynne Featherstone meeting THIS WEDNESDAY
June 29, 2009 1:08 PM
This is just a short reminder that our discussion evening with Lynne Featherstone MP will be taking place this Wednesday. Title: After the recession, a different future Date: Wednesday 1 July 2009 Time: 7.30pm-8.30pm Location: Room Q, Portcullis House, Westminster, SW1A 2JR Full details are available on the Flock Together website. Please confirm if you are likely to be a -
Social Liberal Forum joins Observer campaign for a fairer voting system
May 24, 2009 1:59 PM
Richard Grayson, Chair of the Social Liberal Forum joined people from across the political spectrum today calling for: "On the day of the next general election, there should be a binding referendum on whether to change to a more proportional electoral system. This should be drawn up by a large jury of randomly selected citizens, given the time and information to deliberate on what voting system and other changes would make Parliament more accountable to citizens." See the full text of -
School Choice
May 07, 2009 5:31 AM
British society is perceived to be more unequal than ever with socio-economic status having as much if not more of an effect on a child’s future than ever before. The link between social and educational inequality has been assumed in policy for many years, with a good education seen almost universally as a way of accessing a better quality of life. This may well still be true, particularly in areas where education is not universal, but it now seems that the reforms that were introduced in weste
