Posts Tagged David Cameron
D-Day
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in Civil Liberty, Education, Politics on 09/12/2010
Students are hitting the streets again today, for the climax of protests against the tuition fee hike. Despite their cries, you can bet good money that the Bill will pass, with some estimating a decent seized majority of 20-40 in favour of the fees rise. In light of this inevitability, what is the legacy of these protests and what do they mean for the Liberal Democrats? As far as most of the protestors are concerned, the Lib Dems’ U-turn is a political betrayal and as a result future voters may develop an unhealthy case of premature cynicism.
Intellectual impropriety
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in Economics, Foreign Affairs, Politics on 11/11/2010
During Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to China, big names in British industry have been publicising the achievements that they hope the trip will deliver. One such voice is that of Sir Anthony Bamford, the chairman of JCB who has called for stricter measures to be taken against ‘unscrupulous Far Eastern competitors’ that exploit Western intellectual property (IP). This issue is about more than simply a loss of revenue and pride: without a crackdown, the Western world’s competitive advantage in high-tech production could soon disappear. Read the rest of this entry »
‘People power’… perhaps not
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Politics, Social Cohesion on 08/11/2010
Today David Cameron promised to end the era of ‘bureaucratic accountability’ and usher in the era of ‘democratic accountability’. From an era with a bureaucracy held to account by the government for meeting targets to an era where the bureaucracy is held to account by ‘the people’ who monitor its progress in moving towards ‘milestones’. Read the rest of this entry »
Business as usual?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics, Tax and Spend on 01/11/2010
Today the government outlined a number of measures to help small and medium sized businesses. Wanting to create an ‘entrepreneurial decade’ David Cameron has asked Lord Young to carry out a ‘brutally’ honest investigation into how small and medium sized businesses can be supported by removing burdensome regulations and opening up public procurement opportunities. Such moves are welcome, however the Coalition Government still has a long way to go to champion small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), especially if some of their initial policies are anything to go by. Read the rest of this entry »
And the winner is…. competition?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics, Tax and Spend on 25/10/2010
In his speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today, David Cameron promised government support for ‘those industries where Britain enjoys competitive advantage’ . He also stated that ‘I believe in competition… I believe when new entrants challenge big business, everyone wins’ . This latter point about competition – having faith in the market – has traditionally distinguished centre-right parties from those on the left who have traditionally favoured a greater degree of state intervention. The former point, however, concerning government support for industry, is traditionally associated more with left-wing economic policy.
Iceland 1 – Turkey 0
Posted by Claire Daley in European Union on 28/07/2010
Yesterday (27th July), EU foreign ministers agreed to open accession negotiations with Iceland, just a year after the country formerly applied for membership of the EU, writes Natalie Hamill. The move coincided with David Cameron’s first visit to Ankara, where he lamented the lack of progress on Turkey’s candidature and identified himself as the “strongest possible advocate” for Turkey’s membership bid.