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.
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Tag Archives: Politics
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
ONLINE COMMUNITIES DO NOT EXIST
If you spend time on social media of any kind then the “flame war” (to use a fading phrase) is likely to become a way of life. Hate seems to be the first, and sometimes only, language of the internet. … Continue reading
WHAT DOES LABOUR DO? FIVE OBVIOUS STEPS TO WINNING
So, another set of elections, another ungood night for Labour. Admittedly it was a much worse one for the parties in government. Indeed it was so bad, that if the swing against the Conservatives and Lib Dems was repeated at … Continue reading
WORLDCON PANELLING
I, like lots of other people, got a bit excited when the organisers of Loncon3 sent out the draft schedule for this year’s Worldcon – but I’ve had some ongoing website problems, so it’s taken a while to get this online. … Continue reading
SOME THOUGHTS ON HOW LABOUR WINS IN 2015
So this year’s elections are over, and lots of people are using the results as an excuse to try and shift their favoured political parties around, so I thought: “Why should I miss out?” I don’t think the European election … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged 2014, parliament, Politics
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THE ART OF POLITICAL FUTILITY
Last night my Twitter feed filled, briefly, with closely cropped images of protestors in V for Vendetta/Guy Fawkes masks making some noise outside the Houses of Parliament and comments criticising the BBC for not covering what was, obviously, an epoch-making … Continue reading
WHICH CULTURE? ROBERTS VERSUS FRANZEN… SORT OF
Adam Roberts has written a (typically) interesting blog post about the division between the “Booker culture” that favours formally complex and “clever, clever” writing and the popular arts that have set “the parameters of the Great Human Revolution of 1950-2020”. … Continue reading
BRITISH UNIONS ARE FIGHTING THE WRONG BATTLE, AGAIN
I’m a strong supporter of Labour’s links with trade unions and the work of unions in general. I’ve worked for two different unions (more than ten years, in total) and the first thing I do in a new workplace is … Continue reading