The UK Statistics Authority have written a letter to the Office for National Statistics calling for clarity on immigration numbers, citing a “speculation about the quality” of the migration figures the ONS is pumping out. Other than painting an amusing picture of statisticians having a punch up, this story adds another angle to the whole […]
Archives for March 2016
Here’s the thing about Project Fear: it works
One thing we often hear these days from the commentariat is how “Project Fear” – trying to win a referendum by scaring the voting public into going the way you’d like them to – failed in Scotland and is failing in the EU referendum. Whether this strategy is actually deficient in regards to the current […]
Vote to leave the EU – if you want two more years of this at least
During the AV campaign, the No side had a whole wing of comms dedicated to doing down the idea of having the referendum in the first place. A “why are we having a vote on an electoral system that no one knows anything about when there are children dying in the streets?” sort of a […]
Could Chilcot really stymie the Labour leadership coup?
It’s kind of an open secret in Westminster these days that Labour MPs whom after this week we could slip into the categories labelled “hostile” and “core group negative” (and perhaps those 17 MPs who didn’t even get categorised at all by Corbyn’s crew) are serious about attempting to defenestrate Jeremy after the EU referendum. […]
Why are the only watchable rom-coms these days made for children?
My four year old daughter has developed a fascination with vampires of late. This is how I ended up sitting in front of “Hotel Transylvania”, a feature length cartoon about an overprotective father who happens to be Dracula and his attempts to keep his own daughter from falling in love with a human being. The […]
Does David Cameron have to quit as prime minister after June 23rd – regardless of the result?
Alexander Temerko, a reasonably large Tory donor, has announced to the world – via that well known, right-leaning outlet, The Guardian – that whatever happens in the EU referendum, David Cameron should step down as quickly as possible after June 23rd. “The Conservative party is fracturing following the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith and the […]
Why Boris is starting to remind me of Donald Trump
I have a confession to make: whenever I’m at Tory party conference (I attend all the party conferences every autumn), I try and clear time to see Boris’ speech. There is no equivalent at any other conference – I have never thought “can’t miss Emily Thornberry” while at Labour. To do this isn’t as simple […]
Homegrown reaction to the horror in Brussels demonstrates how deep the European divide is in Britain
After the attacks in Brussels yesterday, several Eurosceptic voices used the events as a way of arguing that Brexit was more necessary than ever. Alison Pearson, the columnist, wrote about how Brussels was the jihadist capital of Europe, and how its position as the de facto capital of Europe somehow discredited the whole European project. […]
The official opposition suddenly springs to life – in spite of Jeremy Corbyn
At long last! Labour takes advantage of Tory weakness. Stephen Crabb, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, was subjected to the sort of grilling we haven’t seen come from the opposition benches in a good long while. Yvette Cooper and Liam Byrne earn special mention. They ruthlessly went to town on Crabb, asking repeatedly what the […]
Here’s how the next two years of Conservative Party travails will go
I’ll nail my colours to the mast here, straight off: I don’t see how Osborne becomes prime minister from here. A lot of commentators are saying the same thing, but are hedging their bets, saying George has wounded himself, perhaps fatally, but there is probably some way back from this budget. No hedging about it from […]