Members Blog Archives - Ludlow Labour - Ludlow Constituency Labour Party

Housing

Written by Mark Kirby Record number of homeless dying while social housing completions hit record lows ONS figures show that there were an estimated 726 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales registered in 2018, the highest year-to-year increase (22%) since the time series began. Further figures show the…

Green Industrial Revolution

Written by Mark Kirby The very first item in the LP 2019 Manifesto was rightly the Green Industrial Revolution. Clearly this is a very urgent issue which we need to take very seriously. The Manifesto states: “That’s why Labour will kick-start a Green Industrial Revolution that will create one million…

The Tory Points Based Immigration System is Low Level Fascism

Written by Andy Metcalf Most of the commentary around Boris Johnson and Pritti Patel’s points based immigration proposals talk about low ‘skills’ when describing the people who will not qualify for entry to the UK. I would like to emphasise that it is not low ‘SKILLED’ workers that will be…

An Economic Transformation: for the Many, not the Few

Written by Mark Kirby It is unfortunately the case that the last Labour government left a problematic legacy not only with their involvement in the illegal war in Iraq, but also in terms of an image of economic incompetence, largely due to the failure of the Labour party to challenge…

If we want to cut crime, should we allow Corporations such freedom?

Written by Mark Kirby Typically, when we think of crime and the harms it may case, we think about people being attacked or murdered or having their goods stolen. In the 1970s classically there was an emphasis on mugging which led to crime being seen in a classist, racist way…

Bolton fire reveals cladding issue is much bigger than previously thought

Written by Mark Kirby Fire rampaged through student residential accommodation in Bolton. A Video made by Ryan Pardon shows flames engulfing the building which is home to 211 students. Ryan, who filmed the blaze from a neighbouring flat, started recording when the fire had taken hold on the fourth and…

Boris Johnson and the Tories post-truth approach

Written by Mark Kirby The whole theory of democracy rests on the idea that political parties will offer a clear manifesto to the public and whoever wins the election then has the right to implement it and the public has the right to expect it will be implemented But there…

Review of Bad News for Labour: Antisemitism, the party and public belief by Greg Philo, Mike Berry, Justin Schlosberg, Antony Lerman and David Miller, Pluto Press, 2019

Written by Mark Kirby In the first week of the 2019 General election, one long-lasting clear line of attack on the Labour Party has continued to operate. This is that the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn is anti-Semitic. For an avowedly progressive and anti-racist party, this is a charge that…

The Structural Trends Underlying the 2019 Labour defeat

Written by Mark Kirby There is much focus on the grounds for the devastating defeat of 2019 as there should be. Clearly Brexit is a factor, as is the media demonization of the leadership. But it is also true that the campaign was run badly with no real overall narrative,…

Inequality now extends to people’s DNA

Rob Jarvis commentary on the article at – https://theconversation.com/inequality-now-extends-to-peoples-dna-124444 What it suggests is that ‘class polarisation’ is a consequence of a form of self-selection resulting from the increasing locational mobility of population. This being the consequence of the genetic predisposition/suitedness that mobile individuals have towards seeking new experiences, when they…