The official blog of The Social Democratic Party.
Contributor ED POND muses at length on what he thinks must change to give small political parties like the SDP a better chance of breaking through - and why that can only be a good thing
Editor
DON'T MISS
A transcript of a speech given by SDP Leader William Clouston at the 'Lord (David) Owen: A Life in Politics' event held at Liverpool University on the 15th of October 2023.
EditorThe UK's dubious democracy needs radical reform. And, argues SAMUEL TURNER, we clearly cannot rely on the two major parties to bring that about.
Surveillance culture is far more sophisticated and far more invasive than most of us imagine. And it's only going to get worse. JOSH SIMS looks at how - and why we need to start taking back our privacy.
The political classes ignore the countryside to its detriment, but also that of the nation at large. SDPTalks contributor MIKE SMITH argues that it's time for a Countryside Manifesto
EditorThe migrant crisis isn't exactly new. Here, as a supplement to Ed Pond's article, an anonymous retired Immigration Officer explains how the barriers to addressing the issue today appear remarkably familiar to him.
AnonJust what can be done about the migrant crisis? Writer ED POND gives his take on the options for tackling what looks set to be a key issue in the next general election.
Kathleen and William discuss the social, legal and political impacts of gender identity theory
Guest writer SIMON STIEL argues that the case for electoral reform is stronger than ever
Sewage has become a political issue. But the story is more complex than that. SDP member Ed Pond wades through the numbers.
SDP
Many forces are coalescing to reduce working hours. We're moving towards what some are calling a post-work society. We need to be thinking now about the consequences of this - and how we address it in practical terms, says SDP member Josh Sims
SDP member Ken Petrie has long been bothered by how claims to diversity have progressively closed down diversity - and with it other core freedoms. Here he proposes a different take on our understanding of diversity.
Ken Petrie
It's time for secondary schooling to recognise both academic and practical talents alike, argues SDP member Toby Mckenzie
Matt and William discuss the emergence of a new elite and explore how its political and cultural dominance could be challenged
The internet is increasingly crucial to day-to-day life, such that some are now suggesting access should be a right. Josh Sims takes a look at the argument.
Ed and William discuss what social conservatives should believe in and the values they should strive for.
Peter and William discuss the deliberate destruction of the post-war grammar schools system which led to the increase of class distinction and privilege in British education.
Patrick and William discuss whether the Tory vision of Brexit has failed, and whether we could get a better Brexit vision with a change of Government.
Joanna and William explore how 'woke' ideology has gained power and discuss its impacts on UK society and democracy.
Konstantin and William discuss whether we in the West take our freedoms, prosperity and culture for granted.
Louise and William discuss ‘The Case Against the Sexual Revolution’, exploring the impacts on women and wider society of our ultra-liberal era.
Proposals for a Central Bank Digital Currency mark another nail in the coffin of cash. This isn't just ill-considered. It's bad for democracy, argues SDP member Geoffrey Bastin
Lionel Shriver is the acclaimed writer of novels including ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’, ‘Should We Stay Or Should We Go’ and ‘The Mandibles’.
In this anonymous article, our SDPTalks contributor tells the sorry tale of his brush with cancel culture
Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement ignores Britain’s obvious longstanding problems.
Michael Taylor
Early in October 2002, the SDP held its annual Conference, this time in Manchester. The SDP’s leader, William Clouston, gave a speech that serves not just as a rallying cry, but as a summary of the party’s philosophy, reasoning and intent. Here it is.
Eric Kaufmann is professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London...
Britain’s economic and financial establishment must go, and go now, before they can do even more damage.
The world economy is broken, and not to be restored quickly or easily. Policy-initiatives will, needs must, be aimed at fostering elements of autarkic national independence.
The price crunch facing families comes down to decades of hostility to long-term planning among the main parties.
William Clouston
Alp and William discuss mass immigration, and the difficulties it poses for the labour market, integration, and community relations.
David speaks of the state of Britain's education and training system and calls for a radical overhaul of how the UK approaches upskilling the next generation.
The corporations who predominate in this country are not great oaks entrenched in our earth, but tumbleweeds which pass with indifference, dumping their products blithely. Their interest is not in the good of the nation, or her people, rather their bottom lines.
Mario Laghos
Claire explores the rise of dogmatism in British politics, the inability of "science" to replace values when it comes to political decision-making, and the importance of individual conscience.
Mohammed discusses the future of the Muslim community's relationship with the Labour party and the value of freedom of speech and expression.
Eric discusses the nature of cultural hyper-liberalism and "woke" politics, the damage it is inflicting on academic life, and how we should respond to it.
Join SDP leader William Clouston in exploring how and why Britain's economic order is failing us all, in his documentary covering the findings of the SDP's new green paper - The End Of Indifference.
Patrick discusses the modern SDP's revival, the insincerity of the Conservative party, the senselessness of Labour's platform, and our party's role in the future of British politics.
Frank explores the social costs of indifference from the political class, the perils of political technocracy, and the importance of values in political life.
It is hard to see the Scottish government’s second referendum push as anything but desperate, cynical and ideologically driven.
Neil Manson
Historian David Starkey speaks about the rise of the professions, its connection to moralistic cultural liberalism, the right domain for ethics, and the experience of being "cancelled".
William explores the British political landscape, the fallout of the pandemic, freedom of speech and expression in public life, and the issues confronting the nation in the coming months and years.
The family as a social unit should be considered the bastion of mutual support, and the place where we discover and develop our moral instincts. When these social ties are well practised, the strong will naturally help the weak.
Ben and William look back on the Covid-19 pandemic in Britain, the government's response, and how society has changed as a result.
Liam and William discuss Britain’s mounting housing crisis, how it came about, and how we can begin to solve it.
The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban should make us rethink the logic of intervention.
To address our crises of low birth-rates and broken families, Britain should pay couples £500 per child, per month.
The truth is that by dismantling our protections, this government is not taking back control, but giving it away. Sell-out deals which would make retirees of our farmers don’t strengthen us, they kneecap us.
Fraser and William discuss Scotland's place and future in the United Kingdom.
Emma and William discuss the fall of many of our institutions to progressive ideology, how this has happened, and why it has been permitted under both Conservative and Labour governments.
Viewing society as a superorganism may cast light on why the modern world, despite its material prosperity, is failing to deliver purpose and meaning for so many.
SDP Chairman
These councils spend much of their time, and our money, propagating identity politics and all things woke.
Andrew Bence
To breathe life back into political discourse, the UK must abandon first-past-the-post and embrace proportional representation
Dylan Carter
Big clubs were not simply taking a bigger slice of the pie; they were taking a bigger slice of a pie that was getting larger at an astonishing speed.
John and William discuss the damage done to Britain by the decline in its manufacturing sector, the failure of the post-1979 economic order in maintaining growth and prosperity, and what can be done to help Britain reindustrialise.
The combination of mass migration and the lack of a robust integration policy has not only disadvantaged British working-class communities, but also children of migrants born in Britain.
Sadia Hameed
Patrick and William discuss the American political scene, the problems of big tech and crony capitalism, the folly of recent foreign military interventions, and the hope that communitarian politics brings for the future.
Those of us who lament the loss of the common life are often accused of wanting a better yesterday. This is untrue. We want a better tomorrow and believe it depends - almost entirely - on what we can still do together.
Rishi Sunak's new budget deals with our short-term crisis, but doesn't have a vision to promote the real prosperity families and the nation desperately need.
Thomas and William discuss the failure of neoliberal economics, the crises facing European parties of the left, and why the left should support the democratic nation state.
Starmer's vague and uninspired economic platform is due to his party being broken at a fundamental level.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the Czechs’ interest in decolonisation would ensue from their own history of oppression, but you would be wrong
Phil Jones
Tim and William discuss political divides in Britain and the US, how poorly the main parties are aligned with their heartlands, and how well social conservatism sits with a purist stance on free trade.
William and Eric discuss the changing demographics of Britain, how society should navigate debates around difference and equality, academic freedom, and the hyper-racialisation of public discourse.
Family life has been under attack for decades, which is why the SDP benchmarks every policy against how well it promotes the family.
Kevin and William discuss the careers and legacies of Peter Shore and James Callaghan, two influential figures in the Labour party of the 1970s and 80s.
The type of wholesale attack on another culture launched by the German media would be unacceptable in today’s UK.
William and David discuss how Britain's education system focuses too much on generating cognitive elites, the societal ramifications of this, and why this approach should be abandoned.
In setting up the Arts Council, Keynes conceived the artist as 'individual and free', but Arts Council England now takes the opposite view
Manick Govinda
The Orkney microcosm offers much to learn. Above all, there is a sense among Orcadians of being part of something bigger than themselves.
Joanna and William discuss how Britain has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic.
William and Calvin talk about the role of rigour in education, the danger of identity politics sneaking into schools and the inflation of the university sector.
Policymakers need to ditch their panic on Covid and accept that students should continue to lead normal lives at university.
Patrick O'Flynn
Denmark has in many ways ‘squared the circle’ of raising a lot in tax while not harming overall prosperity.
Neil and William talk about the nature of patriotism, community, the crisis of individualism, the narrowness of identity politics, and the need for humans to belong.
The failure to nurture common-good ideas costs all of us - but especially the idealists who try to make communities work.
Frank talks about the need for borders, what the loss of a unifying culture means, and the reception of the establishment to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
William and Claire discuss the nature of the free speech crisis in British public life, the prognosis for identity politics as a part of our political debate, and what Brexit may mean and look like from an economically left-leaning perspective.
Life is full of things which are cherished, but unmeasurable. We must endeavour to defend them, even against an onslaught of data.
Lily Geidelberg
The personal lives of BLM activists show how they have sown discord and division in our society, destroying friendships with their indoctrination attempts.
Recent deepfakes have shown Obama using an expletive to describe Trump and Mark Zuckerberg ‘admitting’ Facebook's goal is to exploit its users.
Stephen Scott Watson
The way the EU has stamped down on democracy when it has got in the way of ‘the European project’ is a disgrace.
Daniel Salt
The Government's Free Port proposals are lacking in democratic participation and industrial vision.
Empathy matters in the trans debate, but so do bodies
Mary Harrington
As a small pro-Brexit party in a London seat with a big Labour majority, we knew that it wasn’t just a hill we had to climb, but a whole mountain range!
Roz Hubley
Peter and William talk about the state of social conservatism in Britain, its relationship to social democracy, and whether social conservatives should bother with political organisation.
Post-pandemic higher education: against unfettered social and spatial mobility
Steve Quilley
Many among our elites crave the appearance of virtue rather than the thing itself. A confrontation with reality has been coming for a while.
As the revolutionary BLM agenda sweeps across our society, it’s time to defend an old idea
Black Lives Matter is a sort of political protection racket, following a well-trodden path of agitating and shaming us into providing money and support.
Wayne and colleagues are hoping to unseat the leader of Leeds City Council
Three ideas for an emergency training package aimed at school-leavers and adult retrainers.
David Goodhart
Our politicians could no more avoid this lethal lockdown than a person could walk past a drowning child
Through its support for open borders, the metropolitan left has aligned itself to economic liberalism and the exploitation of workers.
Keir Starmer may appear to align the Labour Party more to social democracy, but on immigration he is as liberal-left as they come.
Keir Starmer has quickly become a favourite of the commentariat, but his establishment centrism is perhaps not as appealing as they think.
Rod Liddle
In South Korea, the government can rely on major corporations to support a national effort. In Britain, it's a different story.
This is a time of painful discovery about what really matters in our economy...
The lockdown will gradually recede, the empty pavements will refill and the task of rebuilding will begin...
Family, Community, Nation.