Bright's Blog

It was the same with "cash for honours" - from the outset, the political class (including many journalists) made out that this was a storm in a teacup. The suspicion that very rich men were buying influence with the party of government was either nothing new or not a story even though, if true, this was a serious crime.

Until this weekend the Westminster village was in denial about ... read more

There is nothing quite like a Morning Star fringe meeting at the Trades Union Congress to remind you of how far British politics has been transformed in the past two decades. In fact, there is nothing quite like a Morning Star fringe meeting, full stop. Where else in 2008 could you hear three union leaders restate their commitment to replacing capitalism with a socialist society? We may be approaching the ... read more

There is nothing like a visit to TUC to remind you of the passion with which some people still pursue their politics. The Morning Star fringe this lunchtime paraded three of the most passionate men in British politics.

Mark Serwotka of the PCS and Bob Crow of the RMT argued for a new political movement to represent the interests of the working man and woman, while Derek Simpson of ... read more

I am reluctant to draw attention to the vicious and misleading work of Lady Renouf, but her recent article Zionist Swarm Targets UK Revisionist Academic is so unpleasant that it merits further attention.

After accusing me of calling for the Iranian-backed television station, Press TV to be closed down, something I never did, Michele Renouf develops the most detailed description yet of the Zionist conspiracy of which ... read more

Alastair Campbell used an appearance on Newsnight to call on Charles Clarke to stop acting like a newspaper pundit and rally to the cause of the Labour Party. It may be the case that the former Home Secretary's intervention did not lead to open insurrection, but it certainly led to a flurry of further commentary.

Matthew Parris was devastating in The Times on Saturday. For those of ... read more

I've been asked some interesting questions about the background to Charles Clarke's intervention in the New Statesman this week so it's only fair that I should share the answers with readers of this blog.

1. Did we solicit the article or did Charles Clarke come to the NS? We had a long-standing request with Mr Clarke for a piece about Labour's travails and he chose this moment to accept ... read more

Just by way of a thought experiment, let's try to be as generous as possible to Gordon Brown and his beleaguered government. It has become tiresome watching the Prime Minister's best friends in the media turn against him, so why not try to view the world as No 10 would have us see it? With some effort, it would be possible to characterise Brown's fortunes as follows.

The catastrophe of ... read more

Writing on the Guardian's website, Roy Greenslade has picked up on the New Statesman Investigates feature and wishes us luck.

Readers have voted overwhelmingly for an investigation into the asylum system. This has come as something of a surprise but it seems that asylum campaigners have adopted the poll with enthusiasm.

There are important lessons to learn from this exercise, including making sure that we define very clearly ... read more

There is something uniquely dreadful about the situation Gordon Brown found himself in as he returned from his summer holiday. He should have been basking in the reflected glory of the "Team GB" Olympic success. This could have been his "1966 moment". But somehow even the words of congratulation from Downing Street misfired. "I think the whole nation is totally delighted and really proud at everything that's been achieved," he ... read more

It is difficult to know what to do about people visiting this site who hide behind their anonymity to make obsessive and personal comments. We do not have a policy on these so-called "trolls". Perhaps we should. Much of this comment would never have seen the light of day in the pre-internet age because there is only a certain amount of space on the letters page. Magazines and newspapers do ... read more

I have just read the obituary of Michael Baxandall in the Telegraph. I was deeply affected by his Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy . As the obituary says, the book "demonstrated that context should be taken much more widely. to include not just the learning of humanists, but also practical skills -- and not just those of the elite, such as dancing and manners, but ... read more

Gill Hicks and her husband Joe Kerr are completely remarkable people. Their Walktalk project is an initiative to bring together Muslims and non-Muslims working for peace and tackling extremism and intolerance together. They have walked from Leeds to London via 22 towns and cities including Luton, from where the bombers took the train to carry out their suicide mission.

The walkers were joined en route by Met ... read more