... to save the NHS, says Ed Miliband. My first thought was, gosh, that's nice, three months in which to kill it. I suspect that I am in a minority: the outpouring of love, loyalty and vows to defend the NHS unto death from the Guardian commenters to this report and to Miliband's own article resemble nothing so much as the frenzied cries of "Deus vult!" that greeted Pope Urban II when he...

The woman credited with foreseeing the financial crash claimed people love to bash the bankers but they were not the only ones to blame.

It was Sir John Major, as prime minister, who said that the British would forever be defined by their love of "warm beer".

A discussion on the Better Nation Blog about proposals for the Scottish Parliament to make smacking children illegal reminded me of this poignant poem by Stan Kelly. It is about an abused child who is likely to grow up to become a replica of his abusive father, but his Ma' still loves him to bits because he is her baby. A fantastic poem, made into a fantastic song by Cilla Black: Oh you are a

Matt Lygate was born on 26/12/1938 in Govan Glasgow. From early on, he became an accomplished artist, orator, and thinker. He always loved the great outdoors and would often dissapear for hours up hills and down gullies to the distress of his parents. As a teenager, he moved to Sunderland with his family and became one of the best renouned tailor's cutters of his time. Matt loved his family a...

The bishops haven't acknowledged that welfare dependency is deeply dehumanising, says Ruth Porter.

In tomorrow nights State of the Union Address what overused and tired cliche' will Barack Obama use first? As an alternative to playing the much loved Barack's Bullshit Bingo game that was created to help you get through an Obama speech, try your hand instead at guessing the first cliche'-type phrase that the President will utter during what promises to be a cliche'-laden prese...

To save the eurozone, it needs to dispense tough love, not endless bail-outs, writes Jeremy Warner.

When I left school without the A levels that I needed to fulfil my academic dreams I was put on a job creation programme in my local library. I loved the scheme whilst it lasted! I learned more in those six months than I had learned in a previous lifetime of school. There was something almost magical in handling so many books. Even without reading them, just stamping a book with this book is the

Ed Miliband has just done a TV clip full of the kind of quotes that politicians love using. In an interview with Nick Robinson (above), the Labour leader declared that ‘I’m leading this party and making the difficult decisions. And if people don't like it, I’m afraid it's tough, because that is the way I’ve got to lead this party’. It seems that Miliband has...