Rumours swirl around Westminster about the possibility that Vince Cable is trying to change the rules around who can be leader of the Liberal Democrats (ie, make it so that a non-MP can take the role) in order to guide Gina Miller into the job. This could all be completely invented, I hasten to add, […]
Archives for July 2018
Here’s what I think is the problem with the BBC at present
BBC bashing is nothing new in Britain; it did not start with the vote to leave the European Union. For as long as I can remember, people have been complaining that the Beeb is biased in one way or another. I have usually taken this as evidence that the BBC is doing its job properly: […]
Here is a major constitutional problem that would arise the moment Labour got a parliamentary majority
Immediately following the Chequers incident, I wrote an article explaining that I thought I knew what Theresa May was trying to do, finally. I said I wasn’t sure if it would work, but at least she seemed to have a plan. However, she blew the whole thing up herself within a week, so now I’m […]
Why the “Remain cheated too” argument is a bad one for Brexiteers to make
In the wake of the announcement by the Electoral Commission that Vote Leave overspent during the EU referendum campaign, many Leavers have decided to counter with a tactic you could broadly call “I know you are but what am I”. It is a knee-jerk response which consists of saying “well, even if Vote Leave cheated […]
Why Remainers really shouldn’t see the Electoral Commission Vote Leave decision as being a gamechanger
Today, the Electoral Commission announced the findings of its investigation into Vote Leave and BeLeave: there was deemed to be definite collaboration, meaning that Vote Leave overspent their official limit by £625,000. The organisation has been fined £61,000 and the responsible people for both organisations, David Halsall and Darren Grimes respectfully, have been referred to […]
How we might end up with a second referendum on Europe – with only two choices, not three
Justine Greening, the former secretary of state for education, is the first big name Tory MP to clearly call for a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. She describes the Chequers agreement as a fudge – and, of course, it is – and says that parliament has no way to break the deadlock, […]
Why is the British Right so incapable of understanding Trump’s motives? I think I finally get it
Over this weekend, I have found reading articles from right of centre news outlets about the Trump visit and its relationship to Brexit fascinating. They come from a place that can only be arrived at with either a total ignorance of or a wilful disregard for the entire trading history of the United States of […]
My take on why I think the Lib Dems lose people like Darren Grimes to the Eurosceptic Right
A few weeks ago, I read an article by Jonathan Calder, a prominent Lib Dem blogger, entitled “The mysterious Darren Grimes“. It was about how Darren Grimes, head of BeLeave, the now infamous organisation at the centre of the Vote Leave Electoral Commission investigation, was not all that long ago a declared Lib Dem. In […]
I’m starting to think that perhaps hardcore Brexiteers actually want to stop Brexit themselves
If Brexit somehow does not happen, historians will look back in awe at the part those who most vocally advocated the UK leaving the EU played in making sure it didn’t occur. From the moment following Cameron’s resignation to the present, a group of hardcore Leavers have been easily the most instrumental figures in bringing […]
Against the grain, I thought Theresa May was actually very impressive yesterday. And I think I know what her plan is now, finally
Yesterday was one of the strangest days in politics I’ve ever seen. In the midst of two cabinet resignations, left-wing commentators had a field day talking about how the end of the government was nigh, while right-wing commentators oddly tried to bring that about themselves, going on and on about the death of Brexit and […]