Steve Baker, Tory MP for Wycombe and head of the modestly titled Conservatives for Britain, has been over the moon about the No vote in the Greek referendum last Sunday. “Today’s dramatic result is a wake-up call for the failed EU Establishment. Even the most vulnerable small nation will not be bullied by supranational authorities.” […]
Burnham’s bid to get Jeremy Corbyn on the ballot may well backfire on him in the end
Over the weekend, it became official: Unite are endorsing Jeremy Corbyn to be the next leader of the Labour Party. When you look at the stated aims of Len McCluskey and then compare them to Corbyn’s political goals, that doesn’t seem so strange on the surface. But when you consider that Burnham must have felt he […]
Now that Greece has voted No, they should be set adrift
Yesterday, Greece voted overwhelmingly to reject the terms put to it via the latest in a string of proposed bailout deals (it was actually more complicated than even that, but for the purposes of this article, go with it). Tsipras told the Greek public that a “No” vote would strengthen his hand in discussions with […]
The best album of the 1980s was this one by several miles
The Beastie Boys broke into mainstream consciousness with their 1986 album Licensed to Ill. It was a somewhat silly and juvenile record in many respects and the group subsequently, in the glare of fame’s embrace, played up to the image created by the record: at one point they allegedly destroyed a hotel room by trying […]
If feminism continues to cling to leftism, it cannot progress
Yesterday, the Women’s Equality Party declared itself open for membership. It collected over 1,000 members in 24 hours, a great achievement for any political conglomeration starting from zero. As a non-partisan political party, welcoming members from other parties non-exclusively, it is also a fascinating study in 21st century politics, watching where it goes from here. […]
ICM poll shows the mountain Labour face in 2020 in a new and novel way
There was an ICM voting intention poll released on June 16th. Not many people noticed it; the polling companies aren’t shouting from the rooftops about their work at the moment, for obvious reasons. Mostly, they keep doing them so that there aren’t historical gaps in polling data (thus ensuring that graphing trends over time is […]
Something you won’t hear this from me often, but here goes: I agree with Michael Fallon
The defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has added some words of wisdom to what was becoming, from the perspective of the Tory frontbench anyhow, a rather arid and even self-defeating conversation. On Radio 4 this morning, Fallon said that if a definite connection could be made between the Sousse massacre and Daesh, then surely some further […]
The Labour leadership race gets nasty – they best watch it from here
John Woodcock, who is openly supporting Liz Kendall for leader, has said the following regarding Cooper and Burnham: “If those who seek to take his place think the route to victory in the leadership contest is Continuity Miliband with a different accent or gender, or with a higher level of emotional connection, they will consign […]
Almost 14 years on from September 11th, 2001, and our language around terrorism is still wrong
In the aftermath of the Sousse massacre, David Cameron has spoken a fair amount about the tragedy, both in the House and in public. On Radio 4 the other day, he was talking about Daesh (I’m refusing to call them ISIS or ISIL ever again, except in the context of a quote – they aren’t […]
Both Tsipras and David Cameron demonstrate that referenda are generally cop outs
Faced with having to either go against what he rather foolishly promised prior to becoming the elected leader of his country, or take said nation to the brink of and possibly over and into disaster, Alex Tsipras decided to fudge it. It was a good fudge, as these things go, I hasten to add: politically, […]