All right, perhaps a slight exaggeration in the title – without wishing to give out spoilers already, yesterday’s speech by Liz Truss was of her usual standard, ie appallingly abysmal, and going over every single line might kill me. Besides, the Gov.uk website from which I’m pulling the text has about half the speech removed […]
Why opposition to the government is so difficult at the moment
A common complaint across all non-Tory politics at present is this: why can’t anyone mount an effective opposition against this shambles of a Conservative government? A lot of fire is directed at Keir Starmer, so let’s start with him and his party as to why it seems almost impossible to put up any kind of […]
The right is nowhere near as open-minded as it pretends to be
There is a myth that circulates currently on the western right that goes like this: while the left is close-minded, wrapped up in cancel culture and identity politics, the right have become the custodians of tolerance. While the left no-platforms those it disagrees with, the right will talk with anyone and everyone. So long as […]
Is political correctness destroying artistic creation? How writing fiction became difficult
I have a new book out called “The Patient”. I’m now in that stage of having to talk about it all the time – to keep the publisher happy, to give myself a chance of selling enough copies to be able to publish another one – which I don’t really relish. But there is something […]
Why we need to talk about 2004 and Brexit – how immigration became important
While even the basic statement I’m about to start off with is still somewhat contentious in certain circles, anyone who isn’t trying one on has to admit that immigration played a large part in the vote to leave the EU in 2016. The desire to end freedom of movement – at least, in the direction […]
The four assumptions behind Brexit, explained
Yesterday, I put out the following tweet: Brexit was based on four assumptions: 1. It would cause the EU to collapse. 2. We’d get all the benefits of the SM without having to follow the rules. 3. We’d get a great trade deal with the US. 4. There would be a painless solution to the […]
The important difference between rights and privileges
I had some fun on Twitter over the weekend. Here’s a tweet I put out there: One of my favourite Brexiteer lines is “If you like the EU so much why don’t you go and live there?” Perhaps because Brexit removed my right to do so? Although I didn’t tweet this to specifically phish for […]
What is the UK government really doing on climate change?
To say that the release of the IPCC’s report on climate change has caused much more of a stir than most green policy reports tend to would be a massive understatement. The headline take away of ‘code red’ for humanity in relation to the environment dominated the news in the UK on the day the […]
How everything became woke
Laurence Fox was on GB News last night. This isn’t news, obviously; Fox, maybe even more than Farage, is built for the channel. I watched his clip so you don’t have to. It revealed a lot, I’m pleased to say. I like watching Fox because he is one of the least sophisticated right-wing pundits in […]
Why the popularity of left-wing policies don’t translate into Labour winning elections
A common refrain heard from the left of Labour during the Corbyn era was that ‘left-wing policies are popular’. This was a reference to the fact that when polled, policies such as rail nationalisation turned out to have widespread approval. Yet this was not the silver bullet the Corbynistas always thought it was because it […]