Thepoliticalidealist

LATEST ARTICLES ( 366 )

• One Year of The Political Idealist: Reflections

  Today, the Political Idealist celebrates its first anniversary. Both the blog and the world I use it to examine have changed radically over the past 12 months. Read more

  Posted on 21 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• We’re Almost Rid Of Qatada

  Abu Qatada must be the most loathed man in Britain. The so-called ‘Islamic’ hate preacher has resisted deportation to his birth country of Jordan, where he was... Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• On The Co-operative Group

  I try not to talk about business news on this blog too often. Though I follow the affairs of the corporate world with interest, my opinion of them seldom varies... Read more

  Posted on 17 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Great Student Loans Rip-off

  When Student Loans were rolled out in Britain, initially to replace Maintenance Grants and later to cover university fees, Conservative, New Labour and Liberal... Read more

  Posted on 16 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• A Fair Approach to Debt

  The Eurozone, as we have been told thousands of times over the past three years, is in a good deal of trouble because governments are straining under the... Read more

  Posted on 13 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The Problem With Single Parent Bashing

  Over my short lifetime, Britain has made tremendous progress towards becoming a more tolerant society. Unfortunately, there remain a number of groups who... Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• A Question of Logic

  Labour has angered many of its grassroots activists with last week’s policy announcements. The party’s attempt to look ‘tough on benefits, tough on the causes o... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• A Little Closer to Destruction

  Yesterday, British MPs voted down a Bill that would have made the country a world leader. This prudent item of legislation would have been interpreted as a... Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Labour Must Rethink Austerity

  I am a fan of the World at One news programme on BBC Radio 4, and listen to it with interest on holidays and on Saturdays. I’m one of those people who yells at... Read more

  Posted on 04 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The European Spectre Of Decline

  The European Commission has got it wrong on the economy, yet again. Though the institution has allowed a number of eurozone countries to delay or limit fiscal... Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Will No-one Defend Our Liberty?

  It is rare for anybody to find a political party with which they find their actions and policies to be in compete agreement. In fact, this is probably a... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Racial Tensions In A Multicultural Eden

  Condemnation of the terrorist attack on soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich on Wednesday has been strong and universal in Britain and around the world. Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• A Just Settlement For Afghan Interpreters

  Arguments about the rights and wrongs of the War on Terror have now gone on for over a decade. I don’t think that there will ever be a consensus, in this countr... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• £20,000 Pay Rise For MPs? Ouch…

  It is perhaps inevitable that, where employees can set their own wages, their pay is likely to rise to artificially high levels. Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• What If We Can’t Cut Any Further?

  

  By 2015, the austerity programme instituted by the Coalition government (and reluctantly accepted in part by the Labour Party) will have been rolling on for fiv... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• HS2: Still The Way Forward?

  Britain has been neglecting its railways since the time of the Beeching Report half a century ago. Compared to France’s TGV and also Deutsche Bahn, both of whic... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• The IRS Scandal: A British Perspective

  In Britain, we have heard little about a major news story in the United States, one that is responsible for a certain degree of political damage for the... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Help for Reformed Prisoners

  When it comes to law and order, social liberals often have problems putting forward sensible, evidence-based polices for fear of being dismissed as ‘soft’ on... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Wow! A Fair Change to Welfare*

  *Almost. Like the majority of people I know, I always open the newspaper with a sense of foreboding. What has the Coalition messed up today? Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Another Lurch to the Right

  

  After the Conservative Party was rocked by the success of UKIP in last week’s local elections, in which they lost majorities on twelve councils, senior figures... Read more

  Posted on 06 May 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY