The defining sociological trends of today are very different from when Labour was last in opposition. The party needs to think boldly to address them, argues Graeme Cooke In the aftermath of the 1987 general election, Labour’s National Executive Committee commissioned a major postmortem into the party’s third consecutive defeat. Combining insights into voting behaviour, public …

Utilising both soft and hard power will be central to reconstructing Labour’s foreign policy At Labour’s National Policy Forum in Wrexham this year I was asked whether we see the UK as the ‘world’s policeman’. It is a profound and important question as we develop Labour’s new foreign policy. The Arab Spring has demonstrated powerfully …

Three weeks ago parts of London erupted in violence. Now, as the August lull fades, it seems that the memory of those scary few days is as well. The worst thing we could do now is forget the real problems which triggered that violence.  The people, old and young, who took part in the violence …

Labour has made some headway since its defeat last year, but progress is slow and the challenge ahead is tough and complex. Could another hung parliament be on the cards, ask Deborah Mattinson and David Ashton Defeat in 2010 came as little surprise to those of us working in opinion research. Thirteen years in power …

No doubt experts elsewhere in this month’s Progress are cogently analysing the consequences of the riots, explaining their social significance, and what policy initiatives should be embraced to ensure we never again confront such terrible scenes. But we at the Insider are a low-minded lot, and so we wonder what the impact on politics will …

Last week, a single mother who’d been imprisoned for an offence in relation to the recent rioting and looting (and who happens to be my constituent) was freed following an appeal against her custodial sentence. She’d been convicted not of being involved in the riots – she’d been at home at the time – but …

We have all been stunned witnessing the courage of the Libyan people triumph over the cruelty of Gaddafi and his regime. The National Transitional Council (NTC) may not hold all territory but they hold the right to govern in a country too long denied the freedom its people deserve. As the Opposition we are proud …

‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ comes closer than David Cameron has to providing answers to the riots. But after a decade of investment, even this may be lacking. Like wars, no riots are ever the same as the last ones. And like the British army in 1914, the police seemed unprepared …

Lambeth was already gearing up to hand power to the community to tackle gang culture. In the wake of the riots, it is moving even faster. Violent youth gangs played a significant role in the looting and disorder in August. Even David Cameron has finally woken up to the need to tackle the scourge of …

When the United States were hit by riots in the 1960s, the political consequences for the Democrats were felt for decades to come. Labour can avoid a similar fate if it learns from history Addressing the House of Commons’ emergency sitting in the aftermath of the riots, Ed Miliband struck a suitably prime ministerial pose: …