Grammar schools segregate children by social class
In 1960 when I passed the 11 plus one of the middle class girls in my class said ‘there must be a mistake, Diane can’t have passed’. She was being…
What We Owe To The Windrush Generation
Today is Windrush Day, a day to honour Caribbeans who made Britain their home after 1948. Elsewhere on this site Patrick Vernon OBE – who led the campaign for Windrush…
Oxbridge Diversity is Important, But Inequality in Higher Education Runs Much Deeper
The revelation last week that Oxbridge continues to recruit the majority of its students from white middle class families in the south east of England comes as no surprise. David…
Social State: Exploding the scrounger myth
Blaming the victim is a tactic with a long and dishonourable history. The caricature of the ‘undeserving poor ‘ was precisely what the Beveridge Report set out to challenge, basing…
Autumn Statement 2021: Seven thinkers share their views
Seven thinkers share their reaction to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, delivered on 3 December 2021. Mark Ferguson, Editor of LabourList The headline announcement of the Autumn Statement – the rabbit…
To achieve recovery we need a pro-active government committed to tackling inequality
This article was first posted on Shifting Grounds on 7 December 2024. Over the last year, inequality has been racing up the political agenda. ‘Inequality’, as President Obama has put…
Queen’s Speech: response
Yesterday’s Queen’s Speech – although devoid of new ideas – was not quite the half-baked list of Bills we were expecting. Instead, it was a reminder that the Conservative party’s…
No Rate Rise Without a Pay Rise
The markets believe it. As the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates on Thursday morning for the first time in more than a decade, the pound has…
One Day Without Us: Why the UK Needs Migrants
“…I think this sort of argument – that, somehow, immigrants are taking jobs and are leaving a load of people unemployed in Britain – doesn’t really stack up.” So said…
Momentum is moving in our direction – bold policies have popular support
If we have learned anything in recent weeks, it’s that when Labour responds to the campaigns we run and the arguments we make – reflecting people’s real concerns – then…
The market is broken
This article was originally published on Labour List on Tuesday 21 October 2020. Britain is currently in the throes of an energy crisis. The decision by British Gas and N…