Tag: Craig Berry
Book Review | Developing England’s North: The Political Economy of the Northern Powerhouse edited by Craig Berry and Arianna Giovannini
In Developing England’s North: The Political Economy of the Northern Powerhouse, editors Craig Berry and Arianna Giovannini bring together contributors to explore different facets of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ as announced in a Manchester speech by then UK Chancellor, George Osborne. This is a valuable collection that shows the incoherence and ineffectiveness of the NP, and the urgent need to develop […]
May’s conservative statecraft gives us a little democracy now to avoid an outbreak later
Approaching its second general election in two years, with a referendum squeezed in between, you would be forgiven for thinking that Britain was in the midst of a democratic bonanza. Think again, writes Craig Berry. He argues that the Prime Minister’s decision to call a snap election signifies a rather cynical, undemocratic turn in British […]
Accusing the ‘Leave’ campaign of utopianism is playing into its hands
The ‘Remain’ campaign, who are in favour of the UK’s continued membership of the European Union, recently accused Michael Gove of the rival ‘Leave’ campaign of engaging in “utopianism”. This, kind of thinking, argues Craig Berry in a post which originally appeared on the New Statesman’s Staggers blog is counterproductive, as it hands the baton of optimism […]
Labour has been too slow to grasp the centrality of ‘place’ in post-crisis Britain
In a previous post for the SPERI blog reposted on Democratic Audit, Craig Berry argued that the Conservatives understand and exploit the electorate’s concern about ‘place’. In part two of the post, Dr Berry argues that Labour – under all recent leaders – has been slow to grasp place’s centrality to the UK electorate’s thinking. […]
The Conservatives understand – and exploit – the electorate’s concerns about ‘place’
The Conservatives’ time in office, since their entry into government with initial Liberal Democrat support, has seen large scale budget reductions across a range of policy areas. They have also pursued what is rhetorically a policy of devolution, with the Greater Manchester “Northern Powerhouse” at its centre. However, as Craig Berry argues, this may represent […]
The Labour leadership election is a democratic travesty
Ballot papers for the Labour leadership contest were dispatched earlier this week to members, and affiliated supporters. The contest has taken an unexpected course, with the former outsider Jeremy Corbyn set to emerge victorious. In this post, Dr Craig Berry from SPERI at the University of Sheffield questions whether the Labour Party leadership elections are […]
Financialisation, home-ownership, and how democracy became a threat to economic growth
A consensus on the desirability of promoting ‘financial inclusion’has occurred over recent years, with both main parties similarly keen to promote home ownership – despite the methods used to pursue this goal often making the issue of access to afforable housing worse. Craig Berry argues that this broad agenda – financialisation – carries with it […]
Unless greater heed is paid to political economy, devolution could become a red herring of democratisation
Following the Scottish independence referendum, devolution for England is back of the agenda, with regional devolution being revisited as an idea. But are we wrong to equate devolution with democracy, given that most consequential powers will still be in the hands of Whitehall? Craig Berry argues that the inadequate attention paid to political economy risks […]
Scots living overseas or elsewhere in the UK should have been given the right to vote in the independence referendum
Record numbers of voters have registered to take part in the Scottish independence referendum this month, and a very high turnout is expected. But the franchise for the election does not include Scottish citizens overseas or those living in the rest of the UK. In this post Craig Berry and Richard Berry argue that the exclusion of these voters […]
New Democratic Audit e-collection: Should the UK lower the voting age to 16?
Today Democratic Audit releases a new e-collection of pieces which debate the merits of whether to lower the UK’s age of enfranchisement from 18 to 16. Featuring expert contributions from campaigners, academics, and politicians, our aim is to heighten the level debate on this proposal. In introducing the report, the co-editors of the report, Richard […]
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