On April 17th, 2018, after much discussion within the Labour Party on the subject, a debate was had in the House of Commons around the topic of anti-Semitism in British politics. And while it was officially about that, it was really about anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. There were several poignant speeches from Labour MPs […]
Archives for May 2018
Okay, now the Brexiteer obsession with Italy is getting extremely irritating
Given this looks set to drag on for some time ahead, I will write this article here and now and then shut up about it. It is a Remainer trope that that the Brexiteers are on their last legs; that they see the dream dying and are wrapped up in an angry phase of denial […]
How Theresa May not promoting from within could lead to her downfall
Tom Tugendhat is giving a speech today about foreign policy. For those of you who do not know, Tugendhat is a Tory MP, elected at the 2015 general election. He is also chair of the Foreign Affairs select committee. It is a strange time for select committees in that they are staffed with a greater […]
Why are England’s sporting failures always so predictably samey?
It is Day Two of the first test match of the summer; already, England have found a way to massively disappoint. They won the toss and elected to bat, on what was a windy, overcast day; it was as if Root had decided to bat first if he could the week before and no acts […]
Why the triggering of Article 50 made no sense
I would highly recommend, to my Remainer readers especially, reading Dominic Cummings blog, at least when he writes about Brexit. That may seem counterintuitive, but I do so because Cummings’ blog is like an oasis in a sea of Brexit insanity; he is now, sadly, one of the only Leavers who writes about leaving the […]
When exactly will Brexiteers overcome the myth that Brexit is an existential threat to the EU?
William Hague has written an article in today’s Telegraph entitled “As Itay has shown, the Euro is a far bigger threat to Europe than Brexit”. To which my reply, even before reading the article, was “No shit, Will”. At the heart of the intellectual case for Brexit was the idea that faced with Britain leaving […]
Onward: why and how Brexit is the elephant in the room for liberal Tories
A new think tank called Onward will launch itself this evening. It’s pitched itself as a Tory think tank, but I warmly welcome it. I get the sense that they want to push the Conservative Party back towards a more classically liberal direction of travel, away from the “citizens of nowhere” shtick that has marred […]
Forget about Corbyn, I’m worried Theresa May is playing the long game now
I find myself often trying to figure out what Theresa May is doing these days. As in, what is the strategy she is pursuing exactly, not just in terms of Brexit, but everything else too. One must begin by recognising that most of her premiership is about Brexit and roll from there. Instead of laying […]
Labour Live flops: why you should never overestimate your popularity in politics
In case you are unaware, the Labour Party is holding a pop concert in north London (the party itself describes it as a “one-day festival of music, art and politics that brings together our incredible movement”) on June 16th. Hear The Magic Numbers, Rae Morris, and Owen Jones (not singing, but ranting, one assumes) and […]
Could this be what causes the next major rupture within the Labour Party?
Every Monday when parliament is in session, in the early evenings, the parliamentary Labour Party meets for a chat. These get togethers have been witness to some explosive moments over the past few years – moderate MPs leaving f-ing and blinding, sometimes leaving nuggets for the assorted hacks outside to chew over – but the […]