Bright's Blog
Politics uncovered by Martin Bright, New Statesman political editor
Ingrid Betancourt -- who she?
- 11 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 03 July 2008
The parochialism of the UK media plumbed new depths with coverage of the release of the kidnapped Colombian politician
I rushed home last night hoping to watch the release of Ingrid Betancourt, the former Colombian presidential candidate held by FARC guerrillas for six years. The story had everything. Revolutionary terroists infiltrated by the Colombian army, government agents disguised as aid workers and the very human tale of a woman who wanted to lead her country almost crushed by years of captivity in the jungle.
Sky News at least [...]
Interview: Ed Balls
- 6 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright and Suzanne Moore
- 03 July 2008
With soaring street violence and constant classroom testing, Martin Bright and Suzanne Moore ask the children's secretary, if the next generation is getting a fair deal
We interview Ed Balls the day after yet another terrible murder of a teenager in London. Sixteen-year-old Ben Kinsella was stabbed four times in the neck and chest following a party to celebrate the end of his exams. Kinsella was described as a model student who was likely to get a string of A grades at just the sort of inner-city comprehensive the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and [...]
When discrimination works
- 3 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 03 July 2008
Parents of children who are now at private school are already talking of moving them to the local state sixth form
There was a curious story on page three of the Sunday Times at the weekend. With the headline "Universities told to favour poor schools", it concerned one of the most intriguing institutions created by Gordon Brown's government when it was still in its full honeymoon flush.
The National Council for Educational Excellence (NCEE), chaired jointly by the Prime Minister and his two secretaries of state, Ed Balls (Schools) and John [...]
Duncan v Oborne?
- 4 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 30 June 2008
Will Alan Duncan square up to Peter Oborne after the Daily Mail columnist wrote about his business links...
A fascinating spat is developing between Daily Mail columnist Peter Oborne and the Shadow Business Secretary Alan Duncan.
Writing in the Mail on Saturday, Oborne warned that the Tories' capacity for sleaze was not over. He suggested, for example, that Duncan's links to the oil trading company Vitol were worth a look.
Vitol are an interesting company. I once had a meeting with them during which I asked about [...]
Brown's Henley Nemesis and the Anti-Messiah Complex
- 12 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 27 June 2008
The result of the by-election in Boris Johnson's old seat was no surprise, but the symbolism surrounding it speaks volumes
The Henley by-election result was crushing, but at least the Labour Party had the guts to stand a candidate. Labour's Richard McKenzie came fifth, behind the Greens and the BNP. He gained a little more than 1,000 votes and I don't know why, but somehow being in four figures just about saves him from being a joke candidate.
But I am beginning to get the terrible feeling that people [...]
Mr Brown's long year
- 6 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 26 June 2008
One survey suggests that "Real New Labour", an eminently moderate group, could well become the dominant faction
The propitious start to Gordon Brown's first year as Prime Minister - the calm and statesmanlike response to the foiled London and Glasgow terror attacks, the summer floods and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth - all now serve only to highlight how dreadful things became in the months that followed.
The crucial "hinge", when the fates turned against Brown, was not the cancelled election of October 2007, but the Northern Rock [...]
Is it a Boycott or Not?
- 69 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 24 June 2008
The proposed academic boycott of Israel continues to test friendships
A close friend and respected academic has asked me to post the whole of the controversial Motion 25 from the University and College Union Congress in May. This is the one that proposes a "boycott" of Israel, which I oppose. As he points out, the word "boycott" is never used.
Well here it is. Decide for yourself:
25 - Composite: Palestine and the occupation University of Brighton - [...]
Brave New World
- 17 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 24 June 2008
The "blogosphere" is a haven for the cowardly, the vicious and the ignorant
There is a lot of guff talked about the "blogosphere". In reality, it is neither a utopia of free speech nor is it entirely given over to conspiracy theorists and whackos.
I didn't agree with all of Polly Toynbee's column this morning. She doesn't seem to be sure whether people are wrong to be miserable, or just miserable for the wrong reasons. But she does a good riff [...]
Daftness Abounds
- 1 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 19 June 2008
The spat between Culture Secretary Andy Burnham and Liberty's director Shami Chakrabarti is unseemly and adds nothing to the debate
Andy Burnham was daft to suggest that something inapproriate was going on between David Davis and Shami Chakrabarti. The Labour Party should stop sniping and put up a candidate if it has the courage of its convictions.
I disagree with David T on Harry's Place who says Shami is also being daft in threatening to sue. I think Burnham should have just issued a gracious apology. But [...]
Wanted: A Liberal Challenger to David Davis
- 4 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 19 June 2008
The New Statesman this week calls for a genuinely liberal candidate to stand against David Davis. Who should it be?
Here is the full text of this week's New Statesman leader. Any suggestions for a candidate to challenge David Davis most welcome.
Labour voters deserve a choice
The New Statesman has opposed the extension of detention without charge for terror suspects to 42 days from the moment it was proposed by Gordon Brown. The argument for detaining these suspects for six weeks has never been made to our [...]
Shiv Malik -- latest
- 3 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 19 June 2008
Mixed (but on the whole good) news from the hearing into whether a journalist should hand over his notes to Greater Manchester Police
Congratulations to Shiv Malik for challenging the production order from Greater Manchester Police demanding material relating to the book he has been writing with ex-jihadi sympathiser Hassan Butt.
Although the hearing at the high court decided that the order was right in principle, it said its terms were drawn too broadly. Shiv now faces a new hearing.
Whatever happens, he has confirmed that journalists can challenge such [...]
On parables and principles
- 3 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 19 June 2008
Where is the David Davis of the left, prepared to resign and challenge the government's authoritarian agenda?
One of the first messages I received after David Davis resigned from the Conservative front bench was from an old friend on the left. We marched together in the 1980s, shook buckets for miners and hoped against hope for a Neil Kinnock premiership. My friend is now a senior lecturer in politics at a university near Davis's Haltemprice and Howden constituency. "Completely bizarre," he wrote. "Think I ought to canvass [...]
The Afghansti Prophecy
- 1 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 18 June 2008
Peter Kosminsky's Afghansti touches a contemporary nerve
At the end of Afghansti, Peter Kosminky's documentary about Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan shown on More4 last night, a senior officer is asked to make a prediction. What will people would say about the Afghan war in 30 years time? His answer was something like this: "We will think 100 times before attempting to resolve international problems with force." He then quotes a Russian proverb: "measure your cloth seven [...]
PM's speech on liberty
- 4 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 17 June 2008
Gordon Brown does "small and intimate well" - he should give up the speeches
Watching the Prime Minister deliver his speech on security and liberty this afternoon, I did begin to wonder why he bothers. As soon as he locks into declamatory mode, it is very difficult for the audience to maintain their concentration.
He rounded off with a less-than convincing defence of the Labour government's record on freedom of expression, which was further undermined by a refusal to take questions from the media.
[...]I Salute David Davis
- 15 comments
- Posted by Martin Bright
- 12 June 2008
The Conservative shadow Home Secretary has resigned over the introduction of 42 days without charge
As I said in my column this week: why has no senior Labour politician resigned over 42 days as a matter of principle? Now David Davis has done the decent thing and demonstrated what it is to be a conviction politician.
Davis always claimed that opposition to 42 days was not a matter of political positioning but something he passionately believes in. I have always bought this. On the [...]
