“I’m not a quitter” Theresa May has told the British press who have decamped to Japan to follow her tour in east Asia, when asked if she would be stepping down before the next election. “Yes” she answered when it was enquired of her whether or not she would remain Tory leader going into the […]
Archives for August 2017
Everyone is massively overreacting to Labour’s change in Brexit policy
Over the weekend, Labour clarified its Brexit position. A little bit anyhow, which given how foggy it has been up until this point seems like a lot to most observers. Basically, Labour have said that during the transitional period, Britain should remain in the single market and the customs union. No further clarity on what […]
Not getting behind Gove as leader was the biggest mistake the Tory Right will ever make
Many a pundit has asked: why have Brexiteers been so grumpy during a period when the country voted for what they had campaigned for decades to brig about, and during which we appear to be headed for Brexit without question? In other words, why have they been such sore winners? I think a big part of it […]
How Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to their parliamentary parties are the opposite of each other – and why that’s key
What undid Cameron’s premiership wasn’t the Brexit referendum; that was merely a symptom of the approach that he took that killed his political career. Which was that he was always too concerned with the whims of parliamentary party and bent over backwards to try and keep them onside. This was why he promised the In/Out […]
How the Left is stuck in the first stage of grief – and what that is doing to the Corbynist agenda
It is silly season at present, and therefore it is very telling what each of the major parties is putting forth as policy announcements. The Tories are releasing a whole bunch of policy papers regarding Brexit in the hopes that the dodgier bits of it will fly by most pundits and the public (this has […]
How it looks like the government is involved in a year long climbdown on hard Brexit – will it work?
“UK offers climbdown on European courts deciding cross-border cases” reads a Guardian headline this morning. This is in response to a government paper released today that sets out the need for a smooth transition from what we have now as a member of the EU and what a post-Brexit judicial world will look like. This […]
The five worst Kiss lyrics
Kiss, the rock band from New York that I find it hard to believe is still going, have been noted over their long tenure for many things: face paint, shagging copious groupies, breathing fire, explosions…..and really, really, really terrible lyrics. In fact, when I look back on Kiss, it is the lyrics that I find […]
Ireland and Brexit: the plot thickens
The government has published a paper about what it wants in regards to the “Irish question” in relation to Brexit, namely how to avoid a hard border between north and south Ireland that would bring with it numerous problems (not least of which would be the end of the current government via the DUP dropping […]
Why I don’t think Jacob Rees-Mogg as the next Prime Minister is as far-fetched as it currently sounds
Moggmentum, those right-wing enough to be into that sort of thing call it. What started as a quasi-joke has taken on a life of its own. Seems there really are enough Tory activists out there in thrall to the Moggster. This is mostly still being treated as a very remote possibility by the right of centre […]
What the Hammond/Fox “no customs union post-Brexit” article actually means
Over the weekend, Philip Hammond and Liam Fox co-authored an article in the Sunday Times that was meant to show cabinet unity on the subject of transition from being inside the EU to whatever being outside of it will supposedly be; what the three years, or however long it goes for, that will kick in after March […]