There once were two gentlemen who shared the same first name: Roger. Despite their disparate upbringings, the two Rogers eventually became the best of friends. Roger Dorrell was the son of a shipping magnate, Dorian Dorrell, a man who was at one time the forty-seventh richest man in Great Britain. Roger One (as we’ll sometimes […]
Archives for October 2014
Blunkett comments on immigration highlight the liberal/non-liberal split in British politics that cuts across party lines
David Blunkett has decided to weigh into the immigration storm; as if we didn’t have enough hotheads running around making noise about it already (including as of yesterday, the mayor of Calais). He says Michael Fallon’s comments on English towns being “swamped” and “under siege” were basically spot on, and that the Defence Secretary was […]
Labour’s Scottish problem
Johann Lamont, the Scottish Labour leader, quit her post over the weekend. Glasgow Central MP Anas Sarwar has taken over temporarily as interim leader, while Labour rolls out a quick timetable for her permanent replacement – the new leader will be announced on December 13th. Only problem with the tight table is that nominations for […]
The Fallon “swamped” comments and subsequent climb down show how the politicians are running scared – and that’s not entirely a good thing
The Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, used some very strong language in an interview given to BBC Radio 5 Live over the weekend, suggesting that English towns were being “swamped” by immigrants and in fact were “under siege”. After a confusing series of statements from Number 10, Fallon has today apologised. “I misspoke […]
Aadiat White Man
New York City, sometime in the late 1990’s. Pre-9/11 and all of that. What I’m doing in the Big Apple would take a whole other story – let’s just say I’m there. Staying in a little place just off Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village. Some friends of friends knock on my door one evening, out of […]
That £1.7 billion bill: bad timing threatens the EU from both right and left
The European Union has asked Britain to give them a couple of billion Euros by December 1st on the basis that the UK economy has recovered to a reasonable state of health. On a side note, France is getting what amounts to a £790 million rebate as part of the same package, a reward for […]
Blue Labour are looking to re-launch – but it may be too late
Frank Field wants to get Blue Labour up and running again as an above ground political, mainstream mode of political thought with a book due to be published in February entitled Blue Labour: Forging a New Politics. I use the words “above ground” due its dwelling below the surface since 2011, when Blue Labour’s leading […]
What the Polish MEP joining UKIP’s group in Brussels means – and how it isn’t what everyone says it means
UKIP was very recently on the verge of having its grouping in the European Parliament, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy, essentially disbanded. The members of the group would have lost out on what amounts to around a million quid in funding as well as having allotted parliamentary time to make speeches on the […]
Memories of 2010: Steve Hilton and Michael Gove’s joint birthday party
Things, as you may remember, were reasonably rosy at the start of the Coalition. The Tories were so happy to be back in government and the Lib Dems so pleased to have made it back after several generations hiatus that crucial differences between the two parties were swept aside as much as possible. This sometimes […]
More AV referendum japes: role playing games
I went into Yes to AV HQ on the Monday following polling day, which was May 9th. As I approached my desk I found that someone was asleep underneath it. I noticed then that the office was littered with empty lager cans. The culprit was Sam, one of the interns. I shook him back to […]