In the wake of the election result, there have been many takes on the Tory victory from the centre, the centre-left and the proper left, all of them very, very bad. I thought it was worth taking the time to go through them and talk about why they don’t work the way they are intended. […]
What the Lib Dems keep failing to understand about the Labour Party
“I think we’ve got an opportunity now to truly bury the hatchet with the Labour Party,” said Layla Moran, who is very likely to the be the next Lib Dem leader, while on talk radio a couple of weeks ago. She also said she wouldn’t rule out a more formal relationship being established between the […]
How Boris Johnson’s agenda is a lot like Tony Blair’s – and what that might mean for the way the UK is governed
Usually when people compare other British politicians to Tony Blair, they mean the politician in question is presentationally slick but supposedly substance light; or that they represent centrism of some flavour; or that they are on the political centrist extreme of their party. I’m about to compare Boris Johnson and Tony Blair in a much […]
Why being on the left in Britain is now as difficult as being on the right in America
It is really difficult to be right-wing in America. And by that I do not mean it is tricky for right-wing people to get on in the US; what I mean is, there is such a high bar to being considered truly right-wing in the States that is difficult to be right-wing enough to clear […]
A guide to why most voters think Boris is doing a good job thus far for all the Boris-haters out there
Most Remainers on my social media timelines are stunned that people are reacting so positively to Boris Johnson and the Conservative party since the general election came and went. “He went on a posh holiday for a fortnight!” you all bellow. “Surely people can see what a charlatan he is!”. Evidently not. There hasn’t been […]
Why an elected House of Lords is a bad idea
It is often the case in Labour leadership contests that constitutional reform plays a role, only to disappear from the scene once the new leader is chosen. This is likely to be the case this time with Rebecca Long-Bailey’s idea of having an elected upper chamber to replace the House of Lords, whether she wins […]
Here is the one lesson from Blairism that I think Labour should relearn
Asked by Laura Kuenssberg if he had any friends who were Tories, Keir Starmer answered: “Yes, of course I do.” He went onto explain that when his father died in 2018, at the height of some of the Brexit battles in parliament, several Tory MPs spoke to him about the loss of his father, trying […]
Another underrated musical artist that may change your life: here is MF DOOM and his story
Over the six years I have written this blog, I have on occasion told you to tune in to some obscure musical act for what I have taken to be your own spiritual good. My article on Jandek converted one bloke who wrote to me subsequently to say that he “obsessively listens to Jandek most […]
As if there wasn’t enough in the way already, here’s an added impediment to any party beating the Tories in any general election held within the next fifteen years
The Tories have a lot going their way. They are going to do a boundary review that will make the new constituencies more Tory and less Labour friendly (and way less Lib Dem friendly, if such a thing can be imagined). The government looks like it is going to make ID mandatory at polling stations. […]
Here are the three things the left gets wrong
I’ve written a fair bit about why the left lost and what the right gets correct so as to make it harder for the Left to win. Today, in light of the Labour leadership contest, I’d like to talk about three changes to the way the left operates that I think are vital if they […]