“It’s the longest hour on Earth,” is my brother’s capsule review of Ed Wood’s first feature, Glen or Glenda, a 1953 film that is about transgenderism/transvestitism. I have always found this and other critiques of the movie that describe it in such harsh terms unfair; noted American film critic Leonard Maltin once described is as […]
The Perugia story: an encapsulation of all that is wrong with anti-Tory politics in the current age
Yesterday, my Twitter timeline was awash with stories about Boris Johnson and a supposed trip to Perugia. The lovely city in Italy’s Umbria region had become the centre of a story that many people who should have known better swore would “bring down Boris”. It came from a story in Italian newspaper La Repubblica about […]
Why the left needs to steal this trick from the right to win again
I recently wrote on here about how, contrary to what appears to be a widespread assumption, I believe the right are starting to win the culture war. A lot of people on the right resist this idea, at least partly because it rubs up against their game plan, which is to win the culture war […]
Here’s the big problem with cancel culture
This morning on Sky News, the following exchange took place: KAY BURLEY: Tony Abbott is a homophobe and a misogynist. MATT HANCOCK: He’s also an expert of trade. If cancel culture worked to its intended aim, the Health Secretary would be worried for his job after that remark. Yet we all know nothing of the […]
Here’s how the Lib Dems should deal with Brexit from now on
With Ed Davey’s ascension to the leadership of the Liberal Democrats comes the question of what the party’s exact position on Brexit should be from here on out. Clearly, the Lib Dems are not in any danger of becoming some pro-Brexit outfit; yet there is still some doubt as to what the yellows should do […]
How Brexit fuelled Scottish nationalism in a much simpler way than is usually discussed
Scottish independence was roped into the effects of Brexit from the day after the EU referendum took place. It was said by many, myself included, that one of the reasons that the Scottish people had voted no in 2014 was because by leaving they couldn’t be assured of getting into the EU as a new, […]
Is the Brexiteer answer to making Brexit work now…..socialism? Has Lexit won in the strangest way possible?
I wrote an article for the Spectator this week about what I think Keir Starmer’s likely approach to Brexit from here will be. I was fascinated by the response, particularly from Leavers who basically agreed with me. I feel like getting people talking again about realistic paths back into the Single Market and Customs Union […]
Clearing up what I have (and have not) said about the Liberal Democrats recently
I have written a series of articles, mostly in for the Spectator but sometimes elsewhere, about the state of the Lib Dems. I’ve written about what I think the party should do, what I think they will do, and what I think other parties need to be mindful of when it comes to the Liberal […]
Will the threat of Scottish independence end Boris Johnson’s time in Downing Street?
Boris Johnson is very unpopular in Scotland. A Times poll out this morning puts Johnson’s handling of the CoVid crisis amongst Scots at -61%. There was talk when he became PM that he would end the union – sure enough, the SNP are riding higher than ever in the polls and Scotland voting to leave […]
Why we need to get real about CoVid
Like everything else in the current era, CoVid is thought of differently on the left and right. The left have, oddly in a way, become lock down passionate, sure this is the right way to go. I say strange since it means giving a Tory government they swear are fascists ever more power. On the […]