LabourList is an independent progressive blog providing a platform for open debate about centre-left issues and the future of the Labour movement in the UK. Although we are a broad umbrella organisation seeking to draw together the many views and factions of the progressive spectrum, we also believe that progressive ends -- such as a robust and resolute welfare state, educational equality and a fully funded National Health Service, free at the point of delivery -- can only be achieved through the maintenance of a robust Labour government.

Blog Entries by LabourList

Can't stop the blog: what the internet has done for ideas

Posted October 20, 2009 | 12:20 PM (EST)


By Laurie Penny
The people of Britain understand the political potential of the internet like nobody else in the West. We have a ferocious craving for democratic involvement, in part because we have been denied it for so long within our democracy, and electronic engagement offers us a...

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Life, Liberty and Happiness: If This is Socialized Healthcare, Sign Me Up!

5 Comments | Posted August 13, 2009 | 11:57 AM (EST)


By Laurie Penny

My partner suffers from a joint disorder which requires regular operations, paid for by the British NHS. His most recent procedure was performed without anaesthetic by a drunken surgeon wielding a rusty hacksaw. As I forced a mouldy rag between his teeth to stop him...

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Gary McKinnon: A Disabled, Frightened Asperger's Sufferer and the Fate of UK-US Relations

16 Comments | Posted August 1, 2009 | 11:26 AM (EST)


By Anthony Painter

Asperger's Syndrome is characterized in part by obsessive and compulsive behavior and the failure of the sufferer to empathize with others' emotions, including distress. Much has been written about Gary McKinnon -- the UFO-fanatical British hacker who allegedly caused $500,000 worth of damage to Pentagon and...

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France Tells Women What Not to Wear

60 Comments | Posted June 27, 2009 | 06:22 AM (EST)


By Laurie Pennie

One of the few things that nearly all nations have in common is ideological control over women's bodies as political territory. The French government this week reasserted that control, mounting the latest in its string of socio-sartorial sallies against Muslim female dress, as André Gerin, backed by...

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In Case You Hadn't Noticed: Britain's Got Fascists

39 Comments | Posted June 19, 2009 | 12:57 PM (EST)


By Laurie Penny

While the rest of the world has been distracted by Susan Boyle, the people of Britain have just sent two representatives of a far-right, white supremacist party to the European Parliament. Yep, you read that right. Almost a million excuses for my fellow countrymen just voted...

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Socialized Healthcare: Lessons from the UK

14 Comments | Posted June 11, 2009 | 08:21 AM (EST)


By Rowenna Davis

A few months ago a best friend of mine turned up on my doorstep with a bundle of suitcases. She and her husband had been forced to leave their New York home after he was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis. The drugs he needed to keep him...

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Out of Date, Out of Touch: British Politics in Turmoil

Posted June 10, 2009 | 02:57 PM (EST)


By Anthony Painter

The British can be pretty slow on the uptake. Never have we been the slower than on the fundamental need to detonate and then rebuild our democracy. The simple fact is that our parliamentary system is a relic; it was out of date the minute the...

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