Michael Jacobs

Green capitalists and green anti-capitalists are on the same side – for now

Michael JacobsFebruary 14, 2022

The Glasgow Pact agreed at COP26 requires that every major country produces new 2030 commitments by COP27 next year. It won't be easy for any country to find wa...

CommentEnvironmentInternational politics4 min read

Why cynicism over COP26 is misplaced

Michael JacobsFebruary 7, 2022

After two weeks of intense negotiations, including a leaders’ summit attended by 120 presidents and prime ministers, the main outcome of the UN climate conferen...

CommentEnvironment4 min read

Making Sense of Snowden

Michael JacobsOctober 17, 2013

Perhaps the most shocking revelation to emerge from the publication of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and GCHQ documents disclosed by the American whistl...

CommentInternational politicsLaw & Justice8 min read

Reflections on One Nation Labour

Michael JacobsSeptember 22, 2013

Ed Miliband’s speech to the 2012 Labour Party Conference was doubly significant. His bravura performance – speaking for more than an hour without notes – had a ...

CommentUK3 min read

After the Party?

Michael Jacobs and Tony WrightJuly 15, 2013

One of the central facts of recent British politics has been the decline of the political party. Fewer people are voting for them; memberships have collapsed; a...

CommentElectionsGovernmentUK5 min read

Tax and Spending (Again)

Michael JacobsMay 8, 2013

The depth of the spending cuts now being implemented by Whitehall departments and local authorities across the UK is unprecedented in postwar Britain. With heal...

CommentEconomyUK10 min read

Osborne v. Growth: The Chancellor and the new green economy

Michael JacobsMarch 25, 2013

The most telling comment on last week’s Budget came from the Government’s very own Office for Budget Responsibility. It acknowledged that the Chancellor’s measu...

CommentEconomyEnvironment5 min read

Gove is all around: Exams, public services and EU competition law

Michael JacobsFebruary 11, 2013

Michael Gove’s retreat on his plan to reform GCSE examinations has provided an object lesson in the perils of political hubris. If the Secretary of State hadn’t...

CommentEducationEuropeUK4 min read

The Problem at No 10

Michael JacobsNovember 21, 2012

The extraordinary glimpse into the inner workings of No 10 given in a rare interview by David Cameron’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Oliver Dowden – in which he admit...

CommentGovernmentUK5 min read

Obama’s Victory: Non-Lessons for Britain

Michael JacobsNovember 7, 2012

Barack Obama's remarkable victory proves one thing at least: just how distorting is the first past the post electoral system. Obama's convincing triumph in the ...

CommentInternational politics4 min read

The Coalition’s carbon crunch

Michael JacobsOctober 18, 2012

David Cameron’s announcement that the Government would legislate to force energy companies to put customers on their lowest tariffs sounded good for a couple of...

CommentEconomyEnvironmentUK6 min read

Our economic prospects after party conference season are still dire

Michael JacobsOctober 11, 2012

The party conference season has ended with no-one any the wiser as to how the British economy will get out of its current dire condition. At the beginning of th...

CommentEconomyGovernment5 min read