The past few decades have been lean ones for LVT because the spread of owner-occupation and aspirations to owner-occupation has led to a political situation where all of the political parties have been scared to advocate LVT for fear of losing votes. But time will change this state of affairs, as was pointed out by a commentator called “imperium” on the Guardian’s “Comment...

We do not have a view on what electoral system the UK should adopt but the way the issue is being handled is telling. It is becoming apparent that there are several alternative PR systems, each with advantages and disadvantages. In the circumstances, there is a good case for the election to be a two-stage process so that people have the opportunity to choose between the different options. Instead,...

The Queen’s speech for the opening of the new Coalition Parliament was leaked and published over the weekend. We are reliably informed that this was a Palace ploy to conceal the real version which, thanks to our undercover insider in the royal household, we are pleased to publish here. My Lords and Members of the House of Commons:

Regular readers will recall that we were pleased to welcome a highly respected economist and financial journalist – Charlotte-Anne Schreiber – to our team of writers. Although still under 35 she already has a distinguished career with several international organisations and is at present an Associate with a leading firm of management consultants. (See ‘Who we are’ for full...

It says little for the press that with the coalition less than twenty-four hours old, commentators have already rushed to pass judgement. Why not shut up and wait and see what happens before passing judgement? It is not as if we have lost a government  of the wise and good. It was obvious as early as 1993 that Labour was always going to be a disaster, though the extent of it surprised me. It...

One of the effects of the British election result is that it has called into question the country’s “first past the post” electoral system. The problem is to find a better one. The three main parties reflect, in a rough and ready sort of way, the threefold division of the economic process and those who take part in it. There are those who own the land, those who run businesses...

Although the electoral campaign appeared to have degenerated into a personality contest, the result suggests that people did not just chose the party with the leader they liked the most. Arguably, however, the head-to-head debates were a mistake and may have been a factor leading to the inconclusive result.

The election campaign brought out the widespread feeling of dissatisfaction with the electoral system, to the point that electoral reform became one of the subjects of debate. In the event, even first past the post failed to produce a decisive result. Against, it argued that one of the biggest problems of PR is in minority parties either keeping unpopular majorities in power or holding governments...

The three prospective leaders have been hard at work all week perfecting the skill of ducking the question and giving us the same tired old routines. This was supposed to be a Foreign Affairs debate but turned out to be nothing of the sort.

What are we to make of the election campaign? As we have no party political affiliation, we are restricted about what we can say. A little bit of support for LVT could be found in all the main parties. But there was next to nothing to enthuse about. Labour was judged on its miserable record, for having come up yet again in the last five years with variants on the tired old failed development land...