As the entirety of the football following public knows already, earlier this month Sol Campbell brought out an autobiography in which he claimed that had he been white he would have captained England for ten years. This, as could have been foreseen, opened up a huge discussion on racism in English football and whether it […]
WE ARE UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE TO A THIRD WORLD WAR
Over the weekend, Turkey shot down a Syrian government fighter jet that had apparently wandered into Turkish airspace. The vitriol from both sides was intense and showed the vast deterioration in the relationship between two countries that in the very recent past were warm with one another. In Eastern Europe meanwhile, Russia builds up its […]
AFGHANISTAN: WHAT HAVE WE REALLY ACHIEVED?
Dan Hodges wrote an article on his Daily Telegraph column earlier in the week about how he felt that the war in Afghanistan had been a worthwhile one, describing it as “mission accomplished”. I feel that his piece is a perfect annunciation of everything that is wrong about this particular train of thought. I have […]
BUDGET 2014: BEER AND BINGO AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Yesterday was budget day. It was dominated, rather strangely, by two things that had very little to do with the budget itself. One was how bad Miliband’s response on the floor to it was (and how you saw that depends greatly on your own partisan interests). The second was the now already infamous “Beer and […]
PMQS REVIEW – MARCH 19TH
Verdict: another one for Cameron, but like the last time they met, mostly given away by Miliband Review: This was a semi-repeat of the last proper PMQS (see March 5th), with one important wrinkle: Ed Miliband took my advice and decided not to use every single one of his six questions making David Cameron look […]
HOW THE LAWSON-LAMONT DOUBLE ACT THREATENS TORY NARRATIVE
Nick Clegg was on the radio today talking about how the tax cut for lower earners in no way hurt the “middle earners” who were paying into the 40p band. The fact that he was given this to talk about was a very good thing for Lib Dems, since this helps the party to reclaim […]
SCRAPPING POSTAL VOTING ON DEMAND IS A BAD IDEA
Conservative MP Andrew Stephenson has called for the termination of postal voting on demand and asked that only those who can demonstrate “genuine need” should be given the right to vote via the indirect method. The pressing need for this is based on fraud, apparently. Stephenson has even gone so far as to try and […]
GEORGE ORWELL REVIEW, PART 3: COMING UP FOR AIR, ANIMAL FARM, NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
This will undoubtedly be the most intimidating of the three Orwell reviews to write; to do so, I have to give my thoughts on two of the most discussed novels of the 20th century in Animal Farm and Nineteen-Eighty Four. This slate of books starts on the verge of the Second World War. In fact, […]
PMQS REVIEW – MARCH 12TH
Verdict: Clegg wins Review: Some of you who know me might well say, “You would say that Clegg wins, wouldn’t you?” To which I would respond that I try and be objective in these things. And objectively speaking, the DPM got the better of the spoils today. Nick did seem particularly fired up on […]
FIFA WILL NOT PUNISH RUSSIA COME WHAT MAY
There is a growing call from several sectors, including Republican senators in Washington and several Ivy League scholars (so mostly America, admittedly), to have Russia booted out of the upcoming football World Cup this summer in Brazil and to have the 2018 World Cup, due to be hosted by Russia, to be taken away from […]