Articles for category: Economic Policies & Models, Historical Perspectives, LemonTree Press, where we press into the complexities of Politics, Policies, Society, History, and Economy, Political Systems & Ideologies

A hyperrealistic landscape showing a weathered marble statue of a British colonial officer wearing a pith helmet, partially buried in golden sand. Behind him, symbolic regions unfold: a Middle Eastern desert with a barbed wire fence and a floating historical document; a crumbling West African coastline with ruins and ghostly figures near ancient ships; and modern cities with colonial architecture under a dramatic sepia sky. Scattered objects like a leather football, passports, gavels, and crates reflect colonial legacies.

The Empire That Never Left

Sir Richard Turnbull, the last British Governor of Aden, once quipped: “When the British Empire finally sank beneath the waves of history, it would leave behind it only two monuments: one was the game of Association Football, the other was the expression ‘Fuck Off’.” It’s an irresistibly sharp line — a comic dismissal of imperial ...

The Rise and Erosion of the Welfare State: A Social Contract Under Siege (Again)

By Our Public Goods Correspondent, Still Fighting for Bulk-Billed Dignity The erosion of the welfare state is more than policy drift—it’s a dismantling of a hard-won social contract. The belief that society should care for its most vulnerable is ancient—rooted in faith, morality, and history. But the modern welfare state, as a state-backed promise of ...

Welfare State Found Dead in Ditch (Again): New Suspects Include Trump’s DOGE, Dutton’s Dream, and the Muskification of Public Policy

By Our Social Safety Net Correspondent (Still Unpaid) Once a cherished post-war promise, the death of the welfare state has arrived—again. Found behind a Centrelink office, it clutched a Centrepay form and muttered something unintelligible about “universal dignity” and “Gough would’ve never allowed this.” Police say foul play is likely. Eyewitnesses described the state as ...

The Coalition’s Desperate Election Campaign: Policy Chaos and Trump-Lite Posturing

The Coalition election campaign in Australia is entering its final weeks in disarray. Polls continue to slide, and the Liberals and Nationals appear directionless. Their approach has been marked by policy reversals, unclear leadership, and public backlash. A Party Without a Plan The Coalition’s approach to policy has been nothing short of chaotic. Take their ...

Illustration of the 2024 British General Election, featuring voters at polling booths decorated with Union Jack flags, with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the background.

The British General Election

Peter Wheeler, a political activist for the Labour Party in the UK, reflects on the pivotal 2024 British General Election, which marked a significant shift in the country’s political landscape.  He has been a local government councillor as well as having held senior posts within the Labour Party.  He campaigned tirelessly in the recent election.  ...

Power to the People – Danny Sriskandarajah  (headline Press)

Danny Sriskandarajah is the head of the New Economics Foundation (NEF).  This was an organisation set up forty years ago to fight neoliberalism.  Since that time neoliberalism has come to dominate the economic policies across the globe.  The result has been to concentrate wealth in the hands of the wealthy. The challenge the Foundation faces ...

Why There Is So Much to Be Concerned About a Labour Victory in the UK

Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party in the UK, and the next Prime Minister, likes to boast on social media that he has changed the Labour Party.  This is a change which has seen him take the Labour Party further to the right than even Tony Blair, who won an equally resounding victory ...