Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

Let’s hope self-serving sycophants are replaced with free thinkers at the next election, says Paul Donovan

It is less than a month since the Government launched the National Pandemic Flu Service and already it is the victim of criticism and complaint. These range from it being too easy to mislead call handlers and obtain anti-viral medicines whether you need them or not, to doctors claiming operators are advising low-risk groups to have treatment, contradicting the advice given to GPs. Medics are even more concerned that other serious conditions are being missed.

Sometimes, if you don’t keep a sharp lookout, these things just pass you by. I hadn’t noticed that a new verb – “to incept” – had crept into the language. If it means anything, which is doubtful, I suppose it means originating something. It doesn’t appear in any dictionary of mine, and until it does I shall treat it as a non-word.

Younger brothers play a large role in the demonology of a friend who has investigated some of the world’s biggest frauds. When a possible suspect emerges, he says, his first question is always: is this person the youngest in their family?

Following a heated debate with a Tory on the old chestnut of whether it’s possible to legislate for equality, I attempted to download Boris Johnson’s Equal Life Chances for All from the internet. After conducting a Google search for this, the second London mayoral report into life chances in the capital, a prompt appeared on my screen asking whether I meant to search for “Unequal Life Chances for All”. Well no. However, judging from the furore the Mayor’s report has ignited in the Conservative Party, I might as well have done.

The Cam-Kam is the Euro right’s new tango. Denis MacShane hopes it doesn’t catch on

Content is not free, says Jeremy Dear. That’s why Rupert Murdoch is right to start charging for his online newspapers

Last week, Tribune caused a media flurry with our publication of David Miliband’s vision of the political future. Although wide-ranging in its sweep, the interest focused on Mr Miliband’s support for the idea of introducing primaries into the selection process for would-be MPs in a paradigm shift of the debate over how parties reconnect with the electorate. We moved in relation to present systems and practice from, it’s broke, to: let’s not bother fixing it, let’s invent something else instead.

People are entitled to know which would-be MPs want to bring back bloodsports, argues Marcus Papadopoulos