For most of this parliament, Labour have been pursuing what they refer to behind the scenes as the “35% strategy”. The logic of it is that Labour only needs that percentage of the vote or thereabouts to win a majority. The theory is faulty in many respects, not least of which is that it doesn’t […]
Archives for March 2015
The Tories need to stop blaming the Lib Dems for not being ahead in the polls
This weekend, there was a Telegraph View article entitled “We will rue the day Clegg ratted on his deal”. It postulates a couple of different theories. One is that had Clegg not vetoed the change in boundaries back in 2012, the Tories would be on course for victory. The other, which is far stranger, is […]
Channel 4’s “Coalition” – a review
I recall when I first heard about this programme being commissioned. In fact, I wrote an article on this very site about it. Having now watched it, my view on that hasn’t really been significantly altered – it was a bad idea. This was reflected in the quality of the final piece, which wasn’t very […]
The five “most punk” punk rock songs of all time
When I was a teenager, I was affected by punk music for a distinct period of time. Up until I discovered it, I was very much a little metalhead – both the music itself and the politics of punk changed my life. Although I’m not the little anarchist I was at fifteen any longer, the […]
The Paxman TV “debate” (or whatever we’re calling it): Miliband, the victor
Last night we had the fill in for what was originally going to be a head to head between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. Cameron didn’t want that to happen, stared down the broadcasters, and won. We saw from the proceedings on Channel 4 that began at 9 PM Thursday evening […]
If Labour did a deal with the SNP instead of the Lib Dems post-May, it would be the stupidest thing the party has ever done
So, here’s the scene on May 8th: Labour has 295, 300-odd seats; the SNP have done as well as predicted in Scotland, taking north of 40 seats; the Lib Dems have defied the worst predictions and held 35-odd seats. Labour are in a bit of bind at this point. There are two clear roads ahead. […]
Finally, someone tells the truth about a Brexit: that it would cost Britain money, not save it any
Open Europe have released a report outlining what a Brexit would look like economically – and from any sort of Eurosceptic standpoint, it’s not pleasant reading. It outlines four scenarios post-Brexit; they range from economically catastrophic to economically slightly positive. And the one in which Britain fares the best involves deregulating everything and having essentially […]
The truth about party funding in this country: an “expose”
Last night, Dispatches finally aired their special programme on the sleazy, behind the scenes world of how our political parties are funded. The whole thing had been heavily trailed in the Telegraph over the last few weeks. Actually, nothing about it shocked me at all and in fact, what it really demonstrated more than anything […]
The SNP and “progressive” politics: in any Westminster government involving the Nats, it’s the English poor who would suffer
Alex Salmond was doing the rounds this weekend, talking about the inevitability of a Labour minority propped up by the SNP as the government post-May 7th, and hinting around what that would entail. That’s his wont, and I wouldn’t expect him to be doing anything else at this stage of the election cycle, the zombie […]
The Blonde Obstacle
It was amazing how much my quest had turned into a real life version of “Code of the Clan”. In the final ten minutes of the movie, Ling has to leave China to go into India for his final confrontation (just as I was about to leave Germany for Belgium). In India, he was to […]