Look Left
Look Left is the magazine of Oxford University Labour Club. Published at the end of each term, it aims to provide a platform for discussion, debate and opinion within the club and amongst progressives throughout the university.
A New Direction- By Tristram Hunt MP
Whilst the Government’s two flagship reform bills- Health and Social Care, and Welfare respectively- have dominated political attention so far this year, at a whispering level, a strange bout of consensus appears to have broken out. Strategic chatter strays to talk of the ‘moral economy’ and how to construct a more responsible model of capitalism, [...]
The Michael Dugher MP interview, by Joe Collin and Adam Whiley
Michael Dugher has been the Labour MP for Barnsley East since 2010, but his experience in British politics reaches much further back. He worked at 10 Downing Street as the Chief Political Spokesman for Gordon Brown, as well as an adviser to the Department of Transport, Local Government and Regional Affairs and Ministry of Defence, Leader of the House [...]
The economic consequences of Mr Osborne- a solution?- By Thomas Hine
It is fairly safe, if distressing, to say that the Britain is in dire circumstances. The economy is again shrinking and unemployment looks set to hit three million, a figure which sparked outrage when achieved in 1982. Even worse, thanks to the coalition government’s dogmatic, shambolic, and inequitable austerity measures the crisis is hitting hardest [...]
How to change the class system- By Tom Adams
There is still a class system in the United Kingdom. People may not like talking about class anymore, least of all the Labour party, but it is still the basis on which income and wealth are distributed. Approximately, the richest 1% own 21% of total UK wealth, with the top 10% owning 53%. In a [...]
Everything’s Gone Green- By Matthew Forrest
‘It is not only dark satanic things and people which now bar the road to the New Jerusalem, but also…hygienic, respectable, virtuous things and people, lacking only in grace and gaiety’- Tony Crosland This edition of Look Left is supposed to be about big ideas. Rather than proposing one, I am suggesting that we look [...]
This time, it’s generational- By Lois Aspinall
Whether you’ve noticed it or not, intergenerational equity (IE) has been at the heart of normative politics in the UK since the onset of 2008’s credit crunch. We owe it to our children, even our children’s children, to reduce the deficit. This is not new. IE claims have been made for some time with respect [...]
The Biggest Idea of All- By Kevin Feeney
The theme of this issue is ‘Big Ideas’, and this edition of Look Left is full of them. But as our recent guest speaker Dan Hodges reminded us, the biggest idea of all isn’t a policy, but something much more elemental. It’s an idea which can unfortunately seem all too foreign to the Labour Party [...]
“La grande idée inexistante”: France’s reluctant lurch to the left- By Kat Shields
After 17 years in the Élysée, the Right is looking tired in France. For the first time under the Fifth Republic the Left dominates the Senate, an overwhelming majority of regional representatives are Socialists, and polls are predicting landslide victories for the PS in 2012. So why are the French still so gloomy? After the [...]
Social Policy and Labour’s Future- By James Wilken-Smith
It’s the economy stupid! This phrase sums up the state of the current political scene in Britain. The swathe of alternative visions for Labour (colour-coded for your convenience) are focused on restoring economic credibility with the electorate at large, and Ed Miliband himself has been eager to try and persuade middle-class voters that a Labour [...]
In all our hearts: Strengthening communities- By Dave Butler
Thinking up a ‘big idea’ is always daunting task. Two of my political heroes, FDR and LBJ, were both defined by their big ideas and shaped a political settlement that lasted well beyond their time in office. Roosevelt’s New Deal was primarily an economic programme whereas Johnson’s Great Society focussed more on social ills. My [...]
