The commentators 25-08-15...on politicsIf you believe Oxford and Cambridge are simply our two finest universities, that they take the brightest and the best, and it’s a matter of the natural order of things that their graduates should go on to govern us, then Oxbridge domination of politics is not a problem. But how can this be true? Just 7% of the population go to private schools and yet they take 44% of the places at Oxford, and 38% at Cambridge. What are we saying? That rich people are cleverer than the rest of us? That they’re more able? That they deserve to rule?
- Carole Cadwalladr, The Guardian While Corbyn dominates the news, a couple of other campaigns are quietly grouping: those who want us to say “yes” or “no” to the EU. This autumn the long campaigns begin in earnest. While planning their strategies, both sides should consider the story of antibiotic resistance. It contains parallels with Britain’s increasingly febrile public debate
- Clare Foges, The Times The old politics is crumbling, not just in Britain but across our continent. We now have the chance to embrace a movement based not on greed or fear, but on resilient local communities, people working together and a stable economy that works for generations to come. I truly hope you win the contest on 12 September – and I look forward to continuing to work with you to bring about the progressive politics that has inspired us both for so many years
- Caroline Lucas, an open letter to Jeremy Corbyn, The Independent Sometimes things are as simple as they seem. There is no profit in searching for complexity or perverse consequences in events that can only play out one way. Contrarians, stand down. If a socialist peacenik becomes leader of Britain’s Labour party on September 12, it is not somehow a problem for the Conservatives, too. Tories high-fiving each other at the prospect of facing Jeremy Corbyn should not “be careful what they wish for”. They should not “reflect” on what his sensational climb “means” and “engage” with his “movement”. They do not “underestimate” him, they estimate him correctly — that is, derisively. There are no hidden dimensions or unconsidered angles here
- Janan Ganesh, Financial Times The Labour party used to be clear on this stuff. Zero-tolerance of racism. Zero-tolerance of apologists for racism. No platform for racism. And now that’s gone. It’s all gone. Holocaust deniers. Blood Libelers. Anti-semitic conspiracy theorists. Terrorist sympathisers. Terrorists. We are Labour. How wide and how high would you like your platform to be?
- Dan Hodges, Daily Telegraph The only reason this case from Shoeburyness reached the public consciousness was because someone mentioned age. That turns out to have been a side issue, and we shall probably never know the full story. That may be right and proper, a family's private traumas should not be aired for public entertainment.
But if women are being coerced into signing away the right to look after their children when they are not mentally fit, in order that councils can meet adoption targets - as the grandparents' lawyer and MPs suggest - then we need to know. The journalists covering this story have fallen for the clickbait angle and missed the real issue. Editor's blog: Grandparents' tale of woe Comment archive, 2015 |
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