Peter Mandelson says politicians need to be more ‘honest’ Peter Mandelson said on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 last Sunday that Labour politicians should be more “honest” with the public about how they would cut spending if they form… Read More ›
Month: December 2014
Second visit to the London green belt – Dagenham
My second visit to the London green belt was to Dagenham, in east London. This is not such a salubrious area as Hadley Wood, the site of my first visit, but there is a substantial area of green belt very… Read More ›
A visit to the green belt at Hadley Wood, Enfield (North East London)
I recently visited part of London’s green belt, in the area of Hadley Wood. This was one of a series of trips I have made to areas around the capital where urgently needed new housing might be built if local councils… Read More ›
Building on the green belt: Nicky Gavron no, David Lammy yes
A major divide has opened up in the London Labour establishment between Nicky Gavron (Labour Chair of the London Assembly Planning Committee) and David Lammy (first declared candidate for the London Mayoralty election in 2016). Nicky Gavron’s view Nicky Gavron… Read More ›
The EU needs more, not less, federalism
The word ‘federalism’ has become, in the UK at least, shorthand for the concept of increased centralisation of power at the centre of the EU, away from the individual Member States. This is not a popular concept in the UK,… Read More ›
No way to run a common currency
Michel Sapin says German criticisms could drive French voters into the arms of the National Front The French Finance Minister, Michel Sapin, yesterday complained that commentators in Germany were being overly critical of France’s efforts to reform its economy. He… Read More ›
Workers who come to the UK from other EU countries are not migrants
The Financial Times published an excellent letter today from Piet Eeckhout, Professor of European Law at University College London. Mr Eeckhout was responding to David Cameron’s demands, in his ‘immigration speech’ last week, that people who come to the UK… Read More ›
Medical Museums in London
London has so many museums that it is possible to separate them into categories. The most interesting category for me (apart from the British Museum, which is in a category of its own) is that of the medical museums. I… Read More ›