Blog Profile / Bagehot's Notebook
| URL : | http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Politics / UK Politics | |
| Posts on Regator: | 206 | |
| Posts / Week: | 1.9 | |
| Archived Since: | April 18, 2011 | |
Blog Post Archive
Britain says no to elected mayors
A WHILE back, debate gripped David Cameron's inner circle, on the subject of how to persuade a sceptical British public to embrace elected city mayors. A rather abstruse ambition to outsiders, the creation of elected mayors in townsShow More Summary
Britain's educational secret weapon: chilly rigour
“YOU don't see many white people round here,” said the American lecturer, visibly startled to encounter Bagehot at the Banking Academy of Vietnam, a sprawling finance college in a far-flung district of Hanoi. Actually, on this particular...Show More Summary
Britain's cheering gloom
MY print column this week looks at the deep anger and anti-politics contempt that suffuses national debate in Britain just now. I suggest that British voter rage is oddly encouraging. In lots of debt-ridden western nations, anger atShow More Summary
A Brixit looms
MY PRINT column this week considers the political implications in Britain of the deepening euro crisis: DAVID CAMERON does not want Britain to leave the European Union, though he finds it exasperating and fears euro-zone meltdown could cost him re-election. Show More Summary
George Osborne's horrible spring
MY PRINT column this week listens to a chorus of criticism about George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, and considers which bits might matter. EVER since he delivered his budget to Parliament on March 21st, troubles have rained down on George Osborne. Show More Summary
The UKIP insurgency
MY COLUMN this week is about UKIP, the British political party campaigning for withdrawal from the EU. ANGRY insurgents rarely prosper in British politics. Two big things help explain this: voting rules and sniggering. Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system is rather brutal to small parties. Show More Summary
Some ideas for improving Britain's relations with Europe. Why they may not work
WEARY readers may find this hard to believe, but Bagehot tries hard to ration the amount that he writes about the European Union. After five years in Brussels from 2005 to 2010, including three writing the Charlemagne column for this newspaper, I am acutely conscious of the need not to dwell too much on one aspect of British policy. Show More Summary
Order, order
MY PRINT column this week is a profile of John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons: NOTHING in Britain’s constitutional traditions obliges the Speaker of the House of Commons to woo voters. Within the Gothic halls of the Palace of...Show More Summary
What the Diamond Jubilee says about Britain
QUEEN Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations are just over a week away. My print column this week ponders what royal jubilees reveal about Britain. BEFORE Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, the villagers of West Hoathly in Sussex were placed under secret observation. Show More Summary
President Hollande's first tax refugee sighted in London?
IT BEING Friday, I hope readers will tolerate a snippet of breaking news from the streets of South Kensington, nerve centre of the French expatriate community in London. Bicycling down the Fulham Road a short while ago, Bagehot was passed...Show More Summary
The chances of a British referendum on EU membership are growing
THE war drums are pounding among those dreaming of a referendum on EU membership. As noted in a post last week, Peter Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet minister, co-inventor of Blairism and ex-European Union trade commissioner, stirred...Show More Summary
House repairs
MY PRINT column this week looks at the politics of House of Lords reform, and suggests that this dry-sounding subject is actually a rather important clash about power and its transmission. SOME years back the BBC enjoyed a surprise hit...Show More Summary
Britain says no to elected mayors
A WHILE back, debate gripped David Cameron’s inner circle, on the subject of how to persuade a sceptical British public to embrace elected city mayors. A rather abstruse ambition to outsiders, the creation of elected mayors in townsShow More Summary
Should Britain's government offer an in-out referendum on EU membership?
DESPITE stiff competition from local and mayoral election results involving almost 200 local authorities across England, Wales and Scotland, Peter Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet minister, co-inventor of Blairism and ex-European...Show More Summary
Selling Britain to the world
MY PRINT column this week reports on William Hague's recent visit to south-east Asia and what it reveals about the Foreign Secretary's vision for British foreign policy. The essence of British diplomacy Hague-style, I suggest, can be...Show More Summary
If Tom Watson really believes Rupert Murdoch is a menace, why didn't he work for a cross-party report condemning him?
TOM Watson, the Labour MP who has done more than most members of the British Parliament to uncover wrongdoing within the media companies run by Rupert Murdoch, likes to compare the Murdoch press to an organised crime gang. Tiring ofShow More Summary
Why do people defend failing schools, but not failing hospitals?
CHARLOTTE Leslie, the thoughtful new Conservative MP for Bristol North West, makes an interesting suggestion in today's Daily Telegraph. Given that improving the quality of teachers is a big part of the vital task of improving British...Show More Summary
Are British newspapers a menace to democracy?
BAGEHOT spent today in Singapore on the final leg of a trip watching the British foreign secretary at work in Asia. A future column will discuss Britain's new foreign policy plans, but this week's print column—written from the road—examines a furore back home triggered by the latest hearings of the Leveson inquiry into press ethics. Show More Summary
Britain's educational secret weapon: chilly rigour
“YOU don’t see many white people round here,” said the American lecturer, visibly startled to encounter Bagehot at the Banking Academy of Vietnam, a sprawling finance college in a far-flung district of Hanoi. Actually, on this particular...Show More Summary
The British government's prosperity agenda hits the road
REPORTING from a summit some years ago, your correspondent found himself following the foreign minister of another country into a press conference. The foreign minister in question, a celebrated public intellectual at home, was strolling at an easy lope into the room when his attention was caught by something to his left. Show More Summary