Sam Mandi-Ghomi

United Kingdom

News and Features Writer at Anfield Watch

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Articles

Thames Water Emergency Board Open Letter to Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

1 week ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

Click here to sign this open letter and make your voice heard. Dear Mayor Sadiq Khan,London’s water system is facing a profound crisis. Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK, is on the brink – saddled with billions in debt, under public outcry over pollution and chronic underinvestment, and now, reportedly at risk of being sold to global private equity firm KKR. This is a defining moment.
'Why the Critics of University Expansion May Have Had a Point'

1 week ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

Opening up higher education to half the country hasn’t been quite the progressive boon we were promised. For someone who thinks they know their own mind and has a clear view of their beliefs and what matters, there are a range of issues which I’ve struggled with all my life. Should people have the right to send their children to private schools? Should borders be open? What rights come with what responsibilities? One particular dilemma has bugged me for decades.
The Future of the Dutch Left: An Interview Between Neal Lawson and Remco van der Stoep

2 weeks ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

Remco van der Stoep: So they [Dutch Social Democrats, PvdA] still have their power base in some larger urban areas, like Amsterdam, but overall they have far less influence, and their membership is aging a lot, so they could see that the future wasn’t looking too bright. Greens are on a bit of an opposite trajectory, growing numbers of members, getting through in much more diverse array of places locally, but nationally also still struggling to get into a real position of influence.
‘The Cold Electoral Cynicism Behind Keir Starmer’s Blue Labour Strategy’

3 weeks ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

This can of course go on – but not forever. The forces that underpinned the popular duopoly of the post war era, primarily around class, are never coming back. All that first past the post does is to ram a pressure cooker lid on our country, forcing people against their will to back a camp they despise, but is better than the alternative. Eventually something will give. What feels permanent and irresistible, if it lacks principle, rots and decays from within.
Keir Starmer Offers a Reform-lite Virtue Signalling Around Immigration

3 weeks ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

By any metric the political hard-right in the UK can claim a certain degree of success over the past 10 years, firstly by forcing an EU membership referendum, then winning it – albeit, the Remain campaign lost it. Then by progressively positioning the centre ground of British (or rather English) politics to be determined by hard-right concerns, most notably around identity politics and immigration.
How to Win Back Reform Voters

1 month ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

During regular canvassing in my Oxfordshire constituency of Didcot and Wantage, including for May 1st’s county council elections, it became increasingly common to encounter voters who are open about their intention to vote Reform. A surprising number of these were choosing between Reform and Lib Dem. But my constituency now has the only Reform county councillor in Oxfordshire, largely surrounded by Lib Dem councillors, making it all the more important to understand voting patterns.
‘We Are Witnessing the Slow Death of Two Party Politics’

1 month ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

UK politics has been slowly but steadily unwinding from a two-party to a multi-party system for decades. Just like going bankrupt, things in politics change gradually and then very quickly. Is our political system about to enter a new era? In an important piece for Prospect magazine, veteran pollster Peter Kellner argues that we could be at the tipping point. What’s going on, why and what’s it likely to mean?
The Truth about Community Values

1 month ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

It has become increasingly common to hear calls for politicians to respect the values of communities and come up with policies that fit with them. But what are those values? Are they about civility, reasonableness, compassion, open-mindedness, cooperation? Far from it.
Speech to Oxfordshire Compass - 12th April 2025

1 month ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi

This post was first given as a speech to members of Oxfordshire Compass by Compass Director, Neal Lawson on 12th April 2025. First, I’d like to congratulate Claire and all the progressives in every progressive party who have changed the colour of this county. I know you like your blues in Oxford, but it’s great to see the political map turn yellow, green and red in council and parliamentary seats like Banbury, Henley & Thame, and Didcot & Wantage.
‘The Anti-Democratic Tyranny of the Office For Budget Responsibility’

1 month ago | compassonline.org.uk | Sam Mandi-Ghomi |Neal Lawson

Last week’s Spring Statement decision to cut the benefits of the weakest members of our society, on the basis of a series of forecasts by the Government’s spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility, wasn’t democratic but technocratic. The argument of the Chancellor was that she had no choice and the fiscal rules imposed this on her and us. But what then is the point of voting when a body which is totally unaccountable to us ultimately decides our fate?