Philip John

Category: Political

  • UKIP are going to have a spectacular victory, and that’s a good thing.

    MAYBE! Look, most people don’t really like UKIP’s policies, whether or not the actual party members are racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic morons or not (they are, by the way). What many people are seeing is a party being brutally honest (for the most part) and the political establishment trying to discredit them. It’s that very…

  • The internet killed religion, politics, and neighbours

    No, not the TV show. Got the theme tune in your head though, didn’t it? You’re welcome. I’m talking about neighbours – those people that live next door, ‘across the way’ and nearby. This is probably perception, and I’ve yet to bother searching for any actual research (if there is any), but there does seem to be…

  • It’s right that UKIP are given air time

    It’s right that UKIP are given air time

    Like many I despise UKIP for their right wing misogyny, homophobia, racism and xenophobia. Some have suggested they shouldn’t be on the TV so much*. But when they are consistently matching or beating a governing party in polls, they deserve a place at the debating table. Since November 2012 UKIP have consistently matched closely or…

  • Irony escapes Tim Farron. Again. And again. And again.

    Commenting on the Conservatives’ decision to drop a manifesto and coalition agreement promise, Illiberal Liberal Democrat president, Tim Farron, said, “It sends a message to the electorate that ‘we don’t trust you. We think you might do things which we don’t like’ Perhaps, Tim, you might sit your  parliamentary party down and beat then round…

  • The joy of collaboration… and politics

    As an open source developer I collaborate with other developers on projects. More so now I’m working with Code For The People (best WordPress agency in the world, obvs). Thanks to James Smith starting the OpenPolitics Manifesto I’ve thoroughly enjoyed applying that same collaborative spirit to a political endeavour. When you have something you want to…

  • 4 years and 2 months later… TheyWorkForYou plugin gets an update

    4 years and 2 months later… TheyWorkForYou plugin gets an update

    Shocking it’s been so long really, but I’ve finally revived my TheyWorkForYou WordPress plugin. When I first released it, all the plugin did was supply a TheyWorkForYou widget. Nothing’s changed! That’s for good reason though… At the time, the latest version of WordPress was 2.8.6 and we’re now on 3.8.1 so a lot has changed!…

  • A living wage free of tax?

    A living wage free of tax?

    I’m glad to see, in this morning’s Observer, that Labour plan to make the national living wage part of the remit of the Low Pay Commission, and provide business with incentives to pay their employees in line with the level. A thought has been going round in my head about the living wage recently though.…

  • Filming Council Meetings: For and Against

    At yesterday’s LocalGovCamp I led a session which attempted to come up with a good round-up of the arguments for and against filming of council meetings. We did a good job and there’s still room for more additions. I’ve used the excellent wrangl.com to show what we came up with and allow the debate to…

  • BT’s Content Connect might threaten hyperlocal TV’s prospects

    Not content with shying away from laying down fibre while competitor Virgin does a JFDI like a good little broadband supplier, BT is now trying to single-handedly demolish net neutrality in the UK. Below are my thoughts, which I’ve sent in a letter to my MP, Michael Fabricant. — Via a number of sources including…