David Cameron has handled the offshore tax avoidance thing very badly, I think we can now declare. So badly, in fact, that we should now discuss the idea that it has threatened the future of his premiership. A lot of people out there, particularly on the left or centre-left of politics, would love to see […]
Archives for April 2016
Farage goes to Scotland: what are UKIP for anyhow?
I thought by this time, with mid-April almost upon us, I’d be sick to death of Nigel Farage. Yet I haven’t actually seen or heard much from him of late. Perhaps he’s finally got the message that his brand of pub wisdom popping up everywhere isn’t that great for the Leave side’s chances, but I […]
Here’s a situation that could even be worse for America than Trump as the Republican presidential nominee
Cruz beat Trump in Wisconsin this week, halting the runaway momentum of The Donald, at least for now. Trump is still reasonably ahead in terms of delegates – the question that looms into view now is what happens if he is unable to wrap up the nomination prior to the Republican Convention in July. If […]
Electing Corbyn as leader was Labour’s “Self Portrait” moment
In 1970, Bob Dylan released an album entitled “Self Portrait”. Previously the darling of the international rock press, Dylan was instantly pilloried for what was seen by many as an intentionally awful record. Greil Marcus famously wrote a four word review of the album – “What is this shit?” – and it caused others to […]
The Scottish Tories should leave the Conservative fold and start their own party
Leaders debates in Scotland are underway. Early noise on them is what you’d expect: Nicola Sturgeon dominant, Kezia trying hard to make Labour still sound relevant to Scots, but not quite making it; the Lib Dems and Greens struggling for relevance as well; Ruth Davidson looking like she should be the leader of the opposition […]
Bringing the NHS into the EU debate is silly – for both sides
For those hoping the run-in to the EU referendum on June 23rd would contain some arguments of intellectual substance, I think this latest piece of news puts that idea to bed for good: both sides of the EU debate have decided to bring up the NHS as a possible bargaining chip in the fight for […]
Why Boris Johnson could end up like Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy entered the 1980 Democratic primaries as the favourite to clinch the presidential nomination. Amongst Democrats, he held a 25-point advantage over the sitting president, Jimmy Carter (whose national approval ratings were in the low-20s to high-teens at the time) before the race began. Ted had long been the almost man of Democrat politics […]
The real problem for Corbyn is that he’s mostly Ed Miliband revisited – just even less competent and electorally appealing
Looking at current Labour economic policy is striking – and not in the way that many casual observers might expect. Let’s examine the essence of McDonnell’s “fiscal credibility lock” for instance: “day-to-day spending would not exceed government income although there would be scope for borrowing for capital investment” says the shadow chancellor. Okay, sorry to say this, but that […]