There has been a hell of a lot of takes on the Dominic Cummings affair already. I was hesitant to add my own for that reason. But this isn’t going away it seems, so here goes. I don’t want to get into the rights and wrongs of what Cummings did and whether he should be […]
Archives for May 2020
Van Halen and the CoVid crisis
I’ve been writing this blog for over six years now. In that time, I have put out articles that fall into distinct categories. The most common type is me commenting on something politically relevant to the moment; this kind of article garners 90% of its hits in the first 48 hours, and often most of […]
My review of the Lib Dems’ “2019 Election Review Report”
We have known for months that the Lib Dems were doing an internal review into what went wrong with the 2019 general election campaign. As someone who has strong views on this subject, I read the report, released yesterday, with anticipation. I’ll start with this basic, overarching review: it is much, much better than I […]
Ten years on from the 2010 general election. What were the long term effects of the Lib Dems going into coalition with the Tories?
Yesterday was the ten year anniversary of the 2010 general election. It wasn’t an anniversary widely celebrated. Every corner of British politics had something to feel bitter about on the night. The Tories fell short of what many felt was their destined return to being the natural party of government; the Labour Party were chucked […]
How the rally round the flag affect is waning – and what that means for Boris and the government
The Tories are still riding high in the polls. The prime minister’s personal ratings remain outrageously positive, as do the numbers reflecting faith in the government. So, it would be highly logical for you to rubbish the idea that the rally round the flag affect is on the wane at all. But I believe at […]
Here is the emerging split on the right. Time will tell how deep it goes – and how that affects the Conservative party
One of the things we learned definitely from the December general election was how united the right was compared with how divided the left had become. While the right was able to group around Boris and the Tories, those who wanted the Conservatives out of government were split several ways, most prominently between Lib Dems […]
Don’t Leave, Organise: what a meeting of Labour’s new left rearguard tells us
“The previous comments made by some of the individuals on this call are completely unacceptable. These are not people who support the values of the Labour Party. This is being made clear to the Labour MPs who attended the call in the strongest possible terms and they are being reminded of their responsibilities and obligations.” […]