Reflecting on the #N30 Strike (Dec 2011)

by Mark Iddon

On November 30th the TUC organised a strike for the public sector Unions where estimates say that 2 million people abstained from work that day with many taking part in demonstrations in major cities throughout the UK. At the end of Wednesday, the Unions said that the day had been a success because of the number of people who had abstained from work that day. David Cameron said that the action had been a ‘damp squib’ because the anticipated disruption had failed to materialise and the event passed peacefully without any rioting or skirmishes with the police.

Taking offence at Clarkson (Dec 2011)

by Simon Belt

Being topical with a guest renowned for being bullish and provocative, BBC One's The One Show raised the topic of the Protest Day on 30 November when many Public Sector workers went on strike. Jeremy Clarkson duly provided a comment that it felt like being back in the 1970s when strikes were more common. It was a rather banal comment about the roads being clearer, airport queues being smoother etc.

Is the countryside under threat? (Oct 2011)

by Mark Iddon

Is the countryside under threat from developers and the government with the draft National Planning Policy Framework document?

‘The Government is to hand thousands of acres of land to developers to build homes,’ stated The Sunday Times this weekend (October 2nd 2011), as the Prime Minister unveiled plans for 100,000 new houses to both stimulate the construction industry and address the housing issue of several decades of under provision. It is alleged that property developers who have made donations to the Conservative Party will benefit from the distribution of government owned land for the purposes of housing development.

Will the Euro Survive? (Oct 2011)

by John Hutchinson

The storm clouds have gathered over the summer over the future of the Euro and the Euro-zone as one epicentre of the continuing global financial crisis.


We have George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, making a recent declaration that there are only six weeks to save the Euro with his mind on the G20 summit in November.

In this discussion, we will attempt to unravel some of the complexities of the Euro. First, it is necessary to recap some of the history. The whole European project was forged out of the destruction and chaos of the Second World War. Whatever the economic outcomes of the current crisis, there is a fundamental, enduring commitment to European political union, particularly from founder members such as France and Germany, in terms of ensuring the peace, stability and economic integration of both the Eurozone’s 17 member states and the 27 nations of the EU.