Tim Page
At last, the gloves are off. After months of political discussion dominated by the expenses scandal – politics at its worst – a dogfight has begun between George Osborne and Peter Mandelson about the nature of progressive politics and, in particular, whether Labour or the Conservatives have the greater claim to that description.
Nicola Smith
My previous post called for greater gender balance in politics as a means to ensure that female interests are represented in political debate. I would now like to add the caveat, ‘except Nadine Dorries’, to that point. Today her blog reveals that she has ‘smacked it’ to the TUC with her hardline support for the heel wearing female public. She informs us that:
I’m 5ft 3 and need every inch of my Louboutin heels to look my male colleagues in the eye… The TUC need to get real, stop using overtly sexist tactics by discussing women’s stilettos in order to divert attention away from Labour chaos and debate something meaningful
To set the record straight the TUC couldn’t care less whether Nadine Dorries wears Louboutin or Clarks to work, our current policy, which is based on reducing long-term foot problems, is that employers shouldn’t require workers to wear uncomfortable or dangerous footwear.
Nicola Smith
Chris Dillow has been reflecting on gender and decision making. The piece, with its rather gratuitous photograph (watch this space for the Johnny Depp sequence illustrating my next unemployment analysis), implicitly questions whether female underrepresentation in senior posts is a problem – if there is no difference between men and women, then ‘it’s not obvious why a political leader’s gender should matter’.
Tim Page
The headline in this morning’s Times newspaper, ‘Britain on the cusp of economic fightback‘, leapt out at me as I reached the station this morning. The article, by Economics Editor Gary Duncan, begins: “Britain appears to be on the verge of economic recovery amid signs that the worst downturn in decades may be coming to an end.”
Let me say, on behalf of the TUC and millions of trade unionists, I fervently hope he is right.
Richard Exell
According to the Guardian, the Conservative are considering handing over to local authorities the power to set the rates for working age benefits.
This isn’t just a silly season story – Lord Hanningfield, who proposed the notion isn’t just the leader of Essex County Council, he’s also the Conservative spokesperson on business in the House of Lords.
In fact, if you look at the proposal on the Essex County Council website, you’ll see that, although there isn’t much detail, the plans actually go further than the Guardian story suggests: the Conservatives on Essex also want the power to set the elgibility criteria for these benefits.
