An article in the Guardian brought this little nugget to my attention last night: turns out the Scotland Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech, may very well give Scotland the right to veto any repeal of the Human Rights Act. So I asked around to see if this was just Guardianista shit stirring. Nope. Turns […]
My review of yesterday’s Queen’s Speech
Already you will have read from the right wing press that the first solely Tory Queen’s Speech in nineteen years was a triumph or a tour de force or something else equally spectacular. The left wing press have meanwhile described it as the end of modern Britain. So I shall endeavour to clear the smoke. […]
My Stockholm Speech
Yesterday, I gave a talk in Stockholm, where I am currently, at least until this evening, on the future of British politics. It was put on by the Ohlin Institute, for whom I offer thanks for inviting me to speak on the subject. I’ve put it out on the site to see what others, particularly […]
If the Tories can continue to attract ethnic minority voters at this rate, their dominance will be even greater in the years to come
I’ll start this article by saying that this website has not become a cheerleader for the Conservative Party, nor have I suddenly become a Tory. But I believe in trying to speak the truth, particularly when talking about politics, an area overcrowded with polemics as is. So when I speak of things like “20 years […]
How Labour said no to the Alternative Vote – lessons for referenda ahead
Now that the last parliament has come and gone, I have taken to looking back on certain aspects of what I saw and went through. I think Labour’s position during the AV campaign bears some reflection. As someone who worked in the centre of the Yes to AV campaign, it goes without saying that we […]
Has the 2015 general election result killed socialism in Britain for good?
“When will you bring back socialism?” Ed Miliband was asked in 2013 by one of Labour’s possibly erstwhile supporters at an event. Ed’s response was: “That’s what we’re doing, sir.” While his response wasn’t particularly true (price freezes and matching Tory cuts like for like wasn’t exactly a Marxist agenda), it was a perception Miliband […]
Since May 7th, I have to admit, Cameron’s played it pretty well on Europe
A slender Tory majority was one of my most feared election outcomes, mostly because of one issue: Europe. I worried that if the Tories got a majority but only a very tiny one, the right of his party would hold Cameron to ransom on the subject. They would reject his calls for a renegotiation at […]
Conservatism v liberalism and the poverty of choice
Someone tweeted at me yesterday: “The labels change but essentially our politics is always liberals vs conservatives. Party better at being one or other wins.” This got me thinking again about the election, about the Tory majority, the Lib Dem losses, the SNP “tsunami”. I found myself agreeing with the tweet completely upon reflection. The […]
The danger of the “elite” narrative: it’s often liberalism itself under attack
Zoe Williams has written a piece today about the term “metropolitan elite” and how it has become a catch all phrase for the political class to essentially try and either distance itself from everything modern Britain increasingly dislikes, or to self-immolate with, depending on how you see things. This, by the way, is not the […]
Could Labour lose the north of England like they lost Scotland?
Douglas Carswell wrote a piece on his website yesterday about how UKIP could seriously challenge Labour in the north, taking seats off them sooner than some might expect. He described his party breaking up a “one party state” and claims that UKIP do not need to move to the left in order to achieve this; […]