Simon Wren-Lewis

Agree: mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2024/08/if-l...

The Britcard – progressive or concerning? - British Politics and Policy at LSE The Government is considering Labour Together's proposal to introduce mandatory digital ID cards in an effort to tackle irregular migration. There are problems with that.

Rather than addressing the fundamental problems with existing verification systems, the Britcard threatens to digitise and amplify the very hostile environment policies that created these problems in the first place.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

Is there? I certainly don't demand the left compromise with those who tried to exclude it because they don't want a broad church. I don't know of anyone who has. But I do think a broad church Labour party would be a more potent force against right wing populism than fragmented opposition under FPTP

The logic behind the deregulation push by Rachel Reeves is flawed The precedents for liberalising rules in finance do not augur well

Reeves seems determined to repeat the mistakes of the past on.ft.com/46zAI4R The logic behind the deregulation push by Rachel Reeves is flawed

If it wants to argue I'm wrong, which you seemed to want to do.

Did you read the post? Its what I say!

Only if you think providing ideas, policies and visions, as the left did from 1945 until 1970s, is not enough for the left, and only control will do.

Its not. Its saying they would sufficiently challenge the status quo so the status quo ensures Labour under the left cannot win elections. We have seen that on the two occasions the left controlled the party. So the challenge for the left is to explain why that would not happen again.

Revealed: How foreign billionaires pump millions into British politics The Elon Musk-shaped hole in Starmer’s Election Bill

🔴 NEW: Foreign billionaires are using UK companies to pour millions into British politics — legally.

We found £6m+ in political donations from UK firms owned by foreign nationals — people who can’t vote in Britain.

New on Democracy for Sale (🧵)

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-h...

Stephen Colbert, "You warned everyone about the future under our president"

Kamala Harris, "You're correct that I did predict a lot of it. What I did not predict was the capitulation. I didn't see that coming"

London stands up against far-right thugs in our streets. Notable which politicians come out in support of civil society and defense of liberal democracy. And which politicians fuel the flames of bigotry and racism. This will be the political dividing line of the next years. Time to pick a side.

Obviously I want it to tack back, which it will. Just a question of when.

Economic Insecurity and the Causes of Populism, Reconsidered (Fall 2019) - Growing conventional wisdom holds that a chief driver of the populist vote is economic insecurity. I contend that this view overstates the role of economic insecurity as an explanation ...

Was just reading this piece by Yotam Margalit from like six years ago and he clarified something neatly about support for anti-democratic populism:

The economically deprived or anxious might provide it the margin of electoral victory, but the core of support is cultural backlash & reaction.

One front page headline does 5 things at once:

(1) it takes the focus away from the the obvious: the majority of prisoners are born here.

(2) it makes something that is unrelated to migration suddenly about migration

🧵

Paris moving towards joining Amsterdam and Copenhagen as cities where the bike is the normal mode of transport

Really glad that our most prominent public intellectuals are still doing the "It's not fascism unless it comes from the Champagne region of 🇫🇷" thing, while Trump is setting up concentration camps, extorting universities, & doing this textbook dictator stuff 🤷‍♂️

adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...

I'd really recommend actually reading Ian's substack before passing any comment. It's thoughtful, offers some excellent advice and is generally an antidote to the kind of crap peddled to young men from the charlatans and the radical right.

Its only difficult to care if you don't care about what happens to this country.

You still haven't explained how you have answered my question.

I don't understand how its an answer. And no, I'm not ignoring the criticisms of things I didn't say!

Not an answer to my question. In fact I don't think anyone from the left commenting on this post has answered this question. Instead they have all spent time criticising things I didn't say. I wonder why.

We have two post-war examples of Labour being led from the left. On both it has been sabotaged by the right with disastrous results. Now that 'not fair' and deeply regrettable, but that experience is still real. Are you just going to ignore it?

I rather think I have endless patience pointing out that a blog post that spends half its time castigating the right faction now running Labour is not an endorsement of that faction. And you are now criticising me for doing that! Amazing.

In what way is the left being part of a broad church Labour party (not this Labour party) an abusive relationship?

Its not my double standard, I don't like it anymore than you do, but its how the UK seems to work. We have two clear historical examples. Are you suggesting the left should just ignore history because 'its not fair'?

I do explain why the left should not lead Labour, and those criteria only apply to the Labour left.

Blair. He didn't purge those on the left.

Because Blair, who was I would say on the party's right, didn't want to purge the left from the party.

Starmer and The Sun: An Appointment that Shows Everything that Is Wrong with Power and the Press in Britain Keir Starmer has signalled the direction of his Government by appointing a former Editor of The Sun newspaper – who has a criminal conviction under the Sexual Offences Act – as a communications adviso...

🔴 Starmer & The Sun: An Appointment that Shows Everything that Is Wrong with Power & the Press in Britain

The PM has signalled the direction of his Government by hiring a former Sun Editor – who has a criminal conviction under the Sexual Offences Act – as a communications advisor, writes Emma Jones

Oh dear. You do know when someone does this they lose any credibility they might have had, don't you?