I turned on Channel 4 around 10 PM in order to watch a documentary piece about the leader of UKIP going to have a knees-up with two retired B&B owners in Sandwich. The first thing I heard as I did so was what sounded to me like Nigel Farage saying, “It will always be Great […]
Ed Miliband’s Great Yarmouth immigration speech (that wasn’t a speech)
Okay, I need to start with the bad on this one. And there is plenty to get through, so get comfortable. For a start, the leak. If you haven’t heard, an internal Labour Party briefing has been leaked to the press, one that said the party should not talk about immigration on the doorstep and […]
Sajid Javid and “The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher”, aka conservatism and artistic expression
Sajid Javid, the minister in charge of DCMS, gave a speech to the Union of Jewish Students Annual Conference in London yesterday. The Daily Telegraph reported this yesterday under the headline, “Protests and boycotts risk stripping Britain’s vibrant arts scene”, which would lead you to think that Javid had issued a diatribe against politics and […]
A Charlie Brown Christmas 2: Nativity in Blood
For anyone who had a North American childhood, this time of year calls up memories of the many television specials that dotted the landscape annually. There was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, a wonderful twenty-minute cartoon in which Boris Karloff voiced a green goblin Scrooge-like creature. This was unfortunately partially ruined by a DNA-changingly awful […]
The five worst songs ever recorded
Some time back, I did an article on the five best songs of the 80’s. Off the back of that, I had two common requests come my way. One was for me to do a best 100 songs of the 80’s. While that would be fun, I really don’t have that kind of time on […]
It’s long overdue for this to be said: a constitutional convention is a bad idea
Several NGOs have united together in calling for a constitutional convention, something they have been doing since the Scottish referendum came and went. Since a friend of mine emailed me yesterday to ask, and I quote, “What the fuck is a constitutional convention?”, perhaps some clarity is required here. Basically, a bunch of politicians pile […]
Nigel Farage, Russell Brand, Ed Miliband, and the state of British political culture as it stands
I didn’t watch the Farage-Brand Question Time when it aired last night. Truth is, I couldn’t really bear to. I watched the conveniently edited for YouTube highlights of both Nigel and Russell instead. It was all you really needed to see, wasn’t it? I for one didn’t need to sit through Penny Mordaunt and Mary […]
Three cheers for the face-sitting #pornprotest people
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, were once asked if there was any ethnic, religious or national category that they would make off-limits to their satire; whether any group was too taboo to make fun of. They said no, and their answer as to why was brilliant: because if they made […]
Gordon, the Lib Dems and the SNP: Alex Salmond has chosen rather poorly
It’s been the worst kept secret in British politics for some time now, but at last it’s gone above ground: Alex Salmond will run for a Westminster seat in the 2015 general election and has picked his constituency. It’s….Gordon. Oh. It’s a very strange seat for Salmond to have picked for several reasons. One, the […]
What the hell is George Osborne up to at the moment?
The Autumn Statement went well for George Osborne, something that all but the most ardent hammer and sickle waving comrade would have to concede. But he’s followed it all up with some bizarre statements to the press over the last few days. Here’s an example: “We are going to have to make savings… we are […]