Making any predictions for an upcoming year has become a perilous exercise recently. One only has to look at the Tory majority the experts (who people are now sick of as a result, apparently) said was less likely than an asteroid striking the Earth that did indeed take place, or the double punch of Brexit […]
Archives for December 2016
How’s the start of Corbyn’s “populist relaunch” going? Oh right
As phase one of Corbyn Mark 2.0, the Labour leader has given a series of interviews and filmed his New Year message. From this we can glean what the “populist re-launch” will look like. All I can say so far is: oh dear. Let’s see what the supreme leader has told the Mirror: “I will challenge UKIP […]
Does Corbyn have a point about May’s “Tudor tendencies”?
In an interview with The Guardian, Jeremy Corbyn (shocked to see him interacting with the right-wing press) had a go at Theresa May for being like Henry VIII in her desire to keep the triggering of Article 50 from parliament, instead citing royal prerogative as the means to do this. In layman’s terms, being a […]
Here’s what’s wrong with the Tory voter ID plans
Portions of the Left are up in arms about a trial the Tories plan to roll out at the next local elections during which British voters will be asked to present identification if they wish to vote. Or more to the point, people in certain parts of the country will be momentarily disenfranchised should they […]
The Left has reached the bargaining stage in regards to the events of 2016
For progressives, whether they be of the liberal centre or the hard left, 2016 was a traumatic year in so many ways. Brexit and Trump are but the most obvious signifiers in this psychological landscape; there are all sorts of ways in which this past year has damaged the collective psyche of the left of […]
Will the Berlin-Milan episode kill Schengen?
Anis Amri, the man who had driven a lorry through a crowded Berlin market on Monday, killing twelve people and injuring scores more, was shot dead by Italian police in Milan after an altercation yesterday. There are many unpleasant elements of this week’s continental episode, but one that might have a lasting effect involves the […]
What Jamie Reed quitting the PLP means
Jamie Reed, Labour MP for Copeland, has decided he doesn’t want to be a member of parliament any longer. This will trigger a by-election that it would be drastically understating the facts to call tricky for the Labour Party, to take place early in 2017. To say this is exactly what they did not need […]
Both the Left and the Right are wrong about free trade v free movement
The opening of the contest to see who will be the next Unite general secretary has led to an interesting look at the current state of the Left. It seems the idea that freedom of movement is kosher while freedom of capital is bad extends way beyond Corbyn and his inner circle. This problem here is that this […]
Why 2017 could be even worse than 2016
Now is that portion of every year when people begin writing epitaphs for the twelve-month period that is just about to elapse as well offering predictions for what is directly ahead. Given what transpired in 2016, from Brexit to Trump to everyone with talent seemingly dying, pundits are quicker to see the back of this […]
Why Theresa May is indeed no Margaret Thatcher
David Mellor, the former Tory minister of many various portfolios under both Thatcher and Major, was on Murnaghan this weekend, talking about Theresa May and the various comparisons to Thatcher she is always receiving: “When I was a minister for four years she treated me with even more disrespect than my mother did, but Margaret […]