Category Archives: UK

Increasing Alignment Between the US and Türkiye Means Trouble

Washington and Ankara are getting mighty cozy as the project to encircle Iran picks up steam.

Medicine Is Under-Politicised in the UK

A further discussion of how societal problems that impact medicine and health policy are largely kept out of political discourse.

The Structural Transformation of the Public Space: High Street Changes and Populism

An intriguing connection between retail districts and populism.

Labour Is Becoming the Enemy of the Vulnerable and the Disabled

Labour goes all in for cutting social spending, first for the disabled, almost certainly with the excuse that it’s needed to fund rearming.

“We Must Fund Oppositions Properly to Save Democracy”

The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf, like quite a few others, looks for ways to save democracy from itself, as in rule by voters.

It’s Going to be Torture as the Path to Starmer’s Inevitable Demise Is Rolled Out

A Starmer death watch sighting.

How Do We Get Competent Politicians?

Richard Murphy argues that all prospective UK parliamentarians and councillors should have to take an exam to prove their competence.

The Curse of the Household Analogy

It can’t be said too often: national government spending is not like household spending, and acting as if it is is damaging.

There’s No Growth, so What Should Labour Do?

Labour’s dilemma — which has parallels in other countries — leads to vague aspirations that are almost meaningless, and probably undeliverable. So, what should it do?

UK Economy Falters as Pound Sterling Continues to Slide

Sustained neoliberalism is exacting a toll on the UK via currency wobbles and reluctance to raise rates in the face of budget pressures.

Why Doesn’t the News Media Talk About the Real Issues in Life?

Looking at why the media seems increasingly to be talking to itself and not ordinary people.

Why Do We Have a Mental Health Crisis?

Why neoliberalism is a major cause of mental health problems.

It Is Possible to Have a Flat Tax, or to Have Democracy, but Not Both

Why a flat tax is yet another scheme to further enrich the rich and weaken the political power of ordinary citizens.

“The Next Crash Could Be Much Bigger Than the Last Two”

Rentierism in housing in the UK has reached what looks like nose-bleed, self-correcting, and thus potentially crash-inducing levels.

Why Does the West Hate Russia So Much?

“The Spectre of War” by Jonathan Haslam provides some clues — at least for the UK.