Letters to the Editor – 02/10 – Socialist Miliband, Italian election law, Best of Twitter
Socialist Miliband
[Re: The Tories are failing to find a market response to Ed Miliband’s anti-capitalism, yesterday]
Ed Miliband will find it difficult to force a paradigm shift along the lines of Thatcher or Atlee. First, his policies are not revolutionary in themselves – even if the result would be incremental steps towards more state control. Fixing energy prices, for example, doesn’t imply public ownership of energy firms – even if that’s a possible implication of shackling British Gas with new rules. And look at Royal Mail’s privatisation. Many oppose it. But it’s happening quietly and effectively, and Labour says it will not seek to buy shares back from the public.
Barry Gregg
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Italian election law
[Re: Italy’s government may survive but vital reform looks ever more unlikely, yesterday]
This crisis is a storm in a teacup. Berlusconi was always going to cause a fuss and shake Italy’s fragile coalition. The real problem, as Vincenzo Scarpetta says, is that the Italian electoral law makes it impossible to form a government stable enough to tackle Italy’s deep-rooted problems. It takes three years for a dismissal hearing to get through court, and a VAT rise is the least of the country’s problems. Let’s just be thankful that Britain didn’t get rid of First Past the Post in 2011. Our coalition won’t have to go on forever.
Name wittheld
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BEST OF TWITTER
August manufacturing PMI wasn’t a blip. If other PMIs keep up, we could see Q3 GDP north of 1.2 per cent.
@AndrewLilico
If the US were in decline, its government couldn’t act with such stupidity yet feel little consequence.
@ianbremmer
In the crisis, Wall Street dysfunction messed up Washington. Now Washington messes up Wall Street.
@mark_dow
Boris talks about lack of supply of housing. Big contrast to Osborne’s focus on mortgages availability.
@nickfaith82