After May’s Florence speech, some Brexiteers have become a little miffed. Not enough to actually do anything about it like, say, bringing down a lame duck prime minister and installing one of their own in Number 10, but you know, still a wee bit peeved as these things go. For those of you out there […]
Archives for September 2017
Here’s why centrism is in so much trouble right now
The Left have come up with a new phrase to shame centrists with: Centrist Dad. I have to admit, they nailed it this time. Having spent ages trying to tar centrists with “Blairite” or even “Tory”, they have figured out what most centrists hate to be associated with – middle-aged timidity. The idea is that […]
Why don’t the same standards apply to anti-semitism as to other forms of racism amongst the Left?
A new rule around combatting anti-Semitism has been adopted by the Labour Party at their conference in Brighton. Good, glad to hear it. Except that surrounding it was a heated battle that hasn’t abated within the party. On stage during the debate regarding the motion, several figures stood up any said the party was trying to […]
Why this year’s Labour conference is so dull
Every year prior to arriving at Labour conference, I feel a weird sense of dread; that somehow this year, everything will turn openly ugly. Then I get to the conference and remember how much fun I have at Labour’s annual national get together each and every year. This edition is no different. I was nervous […]
What I learned at the “Tory Glastonbury”
Yesterday, I headed out of London on the M4 to rural Berkshire for George Freeman’s “Big Tent Ideas”, lazily referred to in the media as the “Tory Glastonbury”. Several things to say about it: one, although the focus of the whole thing was undeniably reviving the fortunes of the Conservative Party, particularly amongst young people, […]
Labour’s leadership rule change slips by with almost no fanfare
The battle over the “McDonnell amendment” ends not with a bang, or a punch up at conference or talk of potential splits, but with a profound whimper. The political press have barely even commented on a change waved through the newly shifted further to the left National Executive Committee taking the need for 15% of the […]
Is Switzerland now bad? Why I’m struggling to understand the Leaver argument these days
Despite being a Remainer, I am trying as hard as I can to understand the Leaver position, particularly as Brexit appears to be inevitable. I try and keep an open mind about it all as much as is humanly possible. But man, the Brexiteers are making it hard to keep this up at present. I […]
Theresa May has misplayed Boris and now this is how it is coming back to haunt her
A quick recap for those who don’t bother keeping up with this sort of thing any longer: Boris Johnson’s long awaited thoughts on Brexit 2.0 were published in the Telegraph this weekend. Many wondered if he might be about to say Brexit was a bad idea in the first place, which seems naïve now. Of course, he […]
Why Donald Trump is shaping up to be such an existential mistake for the American Right
Let it not be forgotten just how long the Republican old guard held out in regards to accepting Trump as the GOP presidential candidate – until the day they absolutely had to. Once the inevitable had been accepted, they did the only logical thing left to them and embraced the previously disliked character as wholeheartedly […]
This is the biggest problem the Lib Dems face in terms of re-building: the Steven Tyler problem
I have just written a book for Biteback entitled “Apocalypse Delated: Why the Left is Still in Trouble”. If you’re interested in the book, you can check it out here. There is a whole chapter in it on the Lib Dems and why I think they struggle to regain the levels of support seen pre-2010. […]