Max Wind-Cowie wants the Anglican Communion to make up its mind on gay clergy.
It is sad that the Anglican Communion has, yet again, chosen to go to war with itself about gay clergy. That it is the Reverend Jeffrey John who is once more being used to cause this fuss is a personal tragedy for him and emphasises the way in which this vicious debate has taken on a personalised and rather un-Christian tone. Reverend John is a self-declared celibate homosexual, choosing not to express his relationship with his civil partner physically so he can continue in his vocatio...
Matt Grist argues that the Tories should rediscover their political traditions and support the campaign for the Alternnative Vote.
David Aaronovitch makes a compelling case in the Times for David Cameron supporting a ‘yes’ vote in a referendum on AV. Aaronovitch argues that having said how great and natural coalition government feels, Cameron cannot easily go back to scaremongering about political deals behind closed doors. This is right, but there are more fundamental reasons why Tories should now support AV. Tories reject the notion beloved of Whigs that systems can be reformed wholesale to create perfecti...
On the day that Al-Qaeda launches its first English-language magazine, Jamie Bartlett examines Jihadi strategies to recruit young people.
Marketing organisations need to know their target audience. It is no different with al-Qaeda. Recently I've been reading a recruitment strategy from a Jihadi website. It explains how important it is to get the young involved using group-based activities such as paintballing and the like. As we reported in The Edge of Violence, it is not an uncommon strategy. At the same time, a new publication was released today called "Inspire" which is supposedly the first official English-lan...
Jamie Bartlett disputes comparisons between the English Defence League and al-Qaeda
I spoke at an event a couple of weeks ago where it was widely agreed that the far right in Britain represents an equal threat to the UK as al-Qaeda. On the terrorism circuit, many people find it quite cultured to pronounce the English Defence League is somehow comparable to al-Qaeda inspired terrorism. That they are, in effect, two sides of the same coin. To be sure, the English Defence League appears to be an emerging force. It has held a number of relatively high profile rallies, some of wh...
Matt Grist looks at the role habits must play in the formation of a 'Big Society'.
The other day I attended ‘Nudge or Think: How experiments can help get Britain to the Big Society’; a presentation of research findings by the ESRC funded civic behaviour project, shared between Southampton and Manchester Universities. The researchers found that ‘nudges’ worked best on very simple behaviours such as doing the recycling. However, the researchers also found that ‘nudges’ only brought about modest returns: for example, after door-to-door canv...
Louise Bazalgette and Claudia Wood argue for better assessment of the care system.
In media debate and policy discussions the care system is frequently described as failing young people. This negative view of care is strongly influenced by how the care system is evaluated, and how we report data on the outcomes experienced by looked after children. We currently compare children who have experienced deprivation and mistreatment with children who have experienced a stable and supported upbringing, and attribute poor educational attainment and mental health problems of c...
Sonia Sodha shows what a genuinely progressive Budget would look like.
George Osborne claimed at the start of his Emergency Budget speech today that this was going to be a budget in which we’d all feel the pain, but the better off would shoulder more of the burden. Perhaps that’s why one of his first announcements was that the Queen will face a freeze in the Civil List in 2011 at £7.9 million. There are some progressive elements to the budget. The increase in the capital gains rate for higher rate taxpayers to 28 per cent is to be welcomed: we...
Ed Rowley finds that the Coalition's focus on spending cuts lacks the 'feelgood factor'.
The Government is right to focus attention on the deficit, but they need to be cautious they don’t become defined by it. When New Labour strode into office in 1997 they were welcomed with cheers and applause, and duly promised to bring about a new approach to government and a ‘Third Way’ for politics. Furthermore, the party tapped into a discourse of youth and idealism which, regardless of its authenticity, enmeshed Tony Blair and the party with the culture and ...
Eugene Grant looks at how benefit reform can tackle disability inequality, even at a time of spending cuts.
The Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has taken the helm at his new Department. Amid the fallout from one of the worst financial crises in recent memory, it is, one might argue, hardly an enviable job. Over the coming months, as the cuts start to bite, addressing disability poverty will be a key progressive test for the former Conservative leader. Already IDS has announced plans to reassess current incapacity benefit claimants – all 2.6 million of them – to deter...
Sonia Sodha looks as the first cuts from the Coalition Government.
So the axe has started to fall – or in the more delicate terms of David Laws, the scalpel has started to slice. As Kitty Ussher argued on this blog last week, cutting £6.2bn now is more of a symbolic move of the Coalition’s commitment to cuts rather than something that will have a profound impact on the macroeconomy for the worse or better. But the detail of yesterday’s announcement is of course being scrutinised for signs of the more significant cuts yet to come in t...