Yesterday, The United States of America normalised relations with Cuba, fifty-five years after the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power and twenty-five years after the Berlin Wall fell. That last figure tells the story of how overdue this move really was. The trade embargo still has yet to be lifted, and hopefully it will […]
Archives for December 2014
The Tories still don’t get it: short of a majority, the only way to get an EU referendum is through another coalition
There was a fascinating article in the Daily Mail yesterday. The top line was Cameron saying he won’t do a deal with UKIP under any circumstances after the next election, no matter what. Well, Cameron didn’t exactly say it; rather a “Downing Street aid” did. Anyhow, it all seems to have been done with the […]
Lib Dems up three, Tories down three – the latest ICM/Guardian poll and what it means for the general election
ICM have done their monthly poll for the Guardian. Top line is that Labour have “opened up” a five point lead on the Tories. At least, that’s how the Guardian is headlining it. In the same poll, the Lib Dems are at fouteen, which is up three from last month. Most Lib Dems would take […]
The aftermath of the Scottish referendum should act as a warning to the Tories over an EU vote
On September 18th, 2014, the Scottish people voted by ten points to reject independence and remain part of the United Kingdom. You would have thought that this would have taken the wind out of the SNP’s sails. After all, independence is their raison d’etre – surely now that the Scots had rejected it, the party […]
When Steph & Dom met Nigel Farage – a review
I turned on Channel 4 around 10 PM in order to watch a documentary piece about the leader of UKIP going to have a knees-up with two retired B&B owners in Sandwich. The first thing I heard as I did so was what sounded to me like Nigel Farage saying, “It will always be Great […]
Ed Miliband’s Great Yarmouth immigration speech (that wasn’t a speech)
Okay, I need to start with the bad on this one. And there is plenty to get through, so get comfortable. For a start, the leak. If you haven’t heard, an internal Labour Party briefing has been leaked to the press, one that said the party should not talk about immigration on the doorstep and […]
Sajid Javid and “The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher”, aka conservatism and artistic expression
Sajid Javid, the minister in charge of DCMS, gave a speech to the Union of Jewish Students Annual Conference in London yesterday. The Daily Telegraph reported this yesterday under the headline, “Protests and boycotts risk stripping Britain’s vibrant arts scene”, which would lead you to think that Javid had issued a diatribe against politics and […]
A Charlie Brown Christmas 2: Nativity in Blood
For anyone who had a North American childhood, this time of year calls up memories of the many television specials that dotted the landscape annually. There was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, a wonderful twenty-minute cartoon in which Boris Karloff voiced a green goblin Scrooge-like creature. This was unfortunately partially ruined by a DNA-changingly awful […]
The five worst songs ever recorded
Some time back, I did an article on the five best songs of the 80’s. Off the back of that, I had two common requests come my way. One was for me to do a best 100 songs of the 80’s. While that would be fun, I really don’t have that kind of time on […]
It’s long overdue for this to be said: a constitutional convention is a bad idea
Several NGOs have united together in calling for a constitutional convention, something they have been doing since the Scottish referendum came and went. Since a friend of mine emailed me yesterday to ask, and I quote, “What the fuck is a constitutional convention?”, perhaps some clarity is required here. Basically, a bunch of politicians pile […]