Martin McGrath
Welcome to my website. I intend to use this space to hold forth on things like politics, books, technology, films and anything else that interests or irritates me.
You can also use this site to see examples of some of the work I've done as journalist, writer and designer. I'm available for freelance work and my rates are competitive and negotiable for good causes.
-
Category Archives: Politics
CONSERVATIVE’S WALLS CANNOT SAVE US
One of the defining features of modern conservative politics is a fixation with the building of walls. In America some of these walls are real – the notion of “securing” the US southern border with a physical wall, no matter … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged brexit, conservatives, EU, Politics, referendum, UK, walls
Leave a comment
LABOUR’S BETRAYAL OF SYRIA
War has always been a topic that has caused the Labour Party problems and it seems increasingly possible that whether or not Britain should bomb Syria has the potential to create deep, and possibly irreparable, splits in the modern party. … Continue reading
LABOUR’S ELECTORAL SURGE: UPDATED
So, in my last post I responded to a post that claimed that there was a resurgence of Labour support identified in local election results. I thought I’d follow that up with a more detailed look at how things are … Continue reading
IS THERE A LABOUR SURGE?
A recent article in Tribune claimed that: “Big swings to Labour are being reported in a number of council by-elections since Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the party.” As far as it goes, it’s certainly true that some swings to … Continue reading
SUMMARY EXECUTION: BOTH WRONG AND STUPID
So David Allen Green (@jackofkent) wrote a very good piece about the legal questions around yesterday’s government announcement that it had used a drone to kill a British citizen fighting in Syria for ISIS. I’m not a lawyer, but his … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Politics
Leave a comment
IT WAS HARRIET WOT WON IT
I have quite admired Harriet Harman in the past, insofar as, as a woman on the left of British politics, she’s had to put up with a lot of shit thrown her way and she’s coped with it with a … Continue reading
WHAT THE LABOUR PARTY IS FOR: OR, WHERE YOU CAN SHOVE YOUR IDEOLOGICAL PURITY
One of the many weird things about the Labour leadership election has been, as a member for nearly 30 years, getting lectured about Labour values by people who – to my certain knowledge – have never been members of the Labour … Continue reading
MARK FERGUSON IS BEING WRONG ABOUT KEYNES AND BUDGET SURPLUSES
Mark Ferguson seemed like a decent, thoughtful bloke who did good work as editor of LabourList, so I was disappointed when he announced he was going to work for Liz Kendall’s campaign. I was even more disappointed today when he … Continue reading
LABOUR AND THE LIMITS OF ASPIRATION
In his piece in The Guardian today, positioning himself as a contender for leadership of the Labour Party, Chuka Umunna wrote: Our vision as a party must start with the aspirations of voters: to get on and up in the … Continue reading
THE ELECTION: NOT KIDDING OURSELVES
There’s no shortage of people dissecting the election result but here are my initial thoughts. Labour did not lose because it wasn’t left wing enough for Scotland – even if Labour had taken every SNP seat in Scotland, it wouldn’t … Continue reading