In February’s edition of Progress I wrote a piece provocatively entitled England shirt Labour. I called on Labour to embrace positive English patriotism – or at the very least to recognise that it exists. I added the obligatory caveat that, while we can compromise with the electorate, we cannot compromise with the EDL. I bashed …

There is a dangerous group of policy issues that matter enormously, but that are often overlooked as being a little dull. Housing is one; pensions are another; and skills are definitely a third. Each area is equally important, but skills are perhaps more equally important than the others. 85 per cent of London graduates are …

Housing was a mixed bag for the Labour government. Fewer policies make me prouder than the Decent Homes Programme, but we never built enough new homes where demand was highest and, too often, we sounded technocratic. We talked about houses not homes, and reeled off lists of bathrooms renovated and kitchens installed, rather than talking …

As the fun never stops in the Rusling household, I finally got to read the much-discussed In The Black Labour paper over Christmas. We might not like it, but the paper sets out perhaps the only plausible way for Labour to claw back our economic credibility and to achieve social justice when the fiscal cupboard …

In Liverpool it seemed that plenty of party members were burying their heads in the sand. This is bad – not only does this make you look silly, but it leaves you with only one orifice to speak from. I want to take issue with an ‘accepted fact’, which contributes to a sense of near-complacency; …