Referendum Day

It’s Referendum day and in London it’s raining like a bastard. As a final word before the day I thought I’d reflect on the 18 months I spent on the NESSI Steering Committee, which was responsible for planning the EU’s R&D budget on the Internet. My influence wasn’t high but NESSI did some good things and reopened my eyes as to the impact often at the micro level of public policy and on the whole, the world and Europe is a better place because of the EU’s R&D budget. Despite the UK Government’s lack of involvement and encouragement, the UK gets its share; I was pleasantly surprised at the UK impact at ICT 2010 which I attended. Personal experiencing reinforces the arguments of Scientists for the EU and the concrete macro issues on which i have blogged. …

Decency vs. Barbarism

Decency vs. Barbarism

Tomorrow is the referendum voting day. As the ‘Leave’ campaign doubled down on immigration, last week, having lost the arguments on the economy, citizenship, sovereignty, and peace,  I planned to write a final piece on immigration, arguing that it can’t and shouldn’t be stopped, and that the Left (and decent) arguments are that we should build houses, reform the housing market, build schools, empower teachers, make higher education free, re-establish skills training, establish and enforce a minimum wage and reset the balance of power in the work place so that Unions i.e. workers can regulate employment conditions again. We need people to come here to work, and we should be proud that we have built a society that refugees want to come to, so that they can be safe. …

Harbinger of Disaster

Harbinger of Disaster

I made this storify, called “Has the earth moved/”, it would seem a couple of days before the Referendum, a harbinger of disaster!

 

I talk about the growing split in the country. I start by suggesting UKIP is here to stay 🤔, look at some aspects of the politics of Jo Cox’s murder and finish with this,

You can’t oppose racism and pander to it.

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What Europe has to teach the anglosphere

What Europe has to teach the anglosphere

In my article, at http://blog.davelevy.info/remain/, I asked why we wouldn’t want to be in a union, a political union with the other members of the EU. I offered three stories and suggested there were 27 stories as to what we could and should take. In a piece of good timing, Michael Moore’s latest film, “Where shall we invade next?” is a whistle stop tour of Europe (& Tunisia) looking at the better life that solidarity & social democracy offers. …

Unconscious endorsement

I am considering the #Brexit campaign. For us Remainers, the work hasn’t been done. The benefits of the EU have been hidden (or rejected via opt-outs) and we’ve been too scared to put them to people; the same is true in parts of the country on immigration. We need immigrants and owe asylum seekers our protection. I have been examining the policy options and come to the conclusion that triangulating with UKIP or their even more obnoxious allies underwrites and reinforces their arguments. The Left solution is not to “Control Immigration” but to legislate for a minimum wage, reset the balance of power in the work place by repealing much of the Tory trade union laws, by building more houses, empowering teachers, making education free again. Principles are like bayonets, better stood by than fallen back on; there would seem to be many who believe we haven’t stood by our principles of social solidarity and are ready to leave us, possibly for good.

There is a view that London’s fascists at the turn of the 20th century were beaten by pavement politics, by showing that winning (councils) matters but there is a danger that the Tory council cuts and the evisceration of local democracy, means that only winning on a national stage matters. It’s a lesson for Labour Councillors, how much longer can we bear the the dented shield, how much longer will it matter?

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