At long last, the “deal” has landed, bringing with it opprobrium from both Leavers and Remainers. Speculation today has mostly been centred on which cabinet members will resign shortly (so far, none have) and whether May has any hope of getting this “deal” through parliament. Thinking ahead, however, a much more interesting question emerges, this […]
Brexit: what is next for the Left? More complicated even than it sounds
I chaired an event last night in a House of Commons committee room entitled “Brexit: what’s next for the Left?” with panelists Femi Oluwole and Cathleen Clarke from OFOC, Khalid Mahmood MP, shadow minister for Europe (which I have to admit, I was unaware of pre-event. Wait, why does Labour even have a shadow minister […]
An article in which I attempt, as best as possible, to summarise the current state of play
All week I have had at the back of my mind the idea of writing something about where we are – on Brexit, on everything in UK politics at the moment – without really knowing what to say. Everything comes down to “the deal” – which is not, amazingly enough, going to be a deal […]
Looking at the Arron Banks on Marr interview in relation to election spending rules
Many people are upset about Arron Banks being given a slot on the BBC’s prime weekend politics programme yesterday morning to try and plead his innocence over the airwaves; I will not get into that matter within in the content of this article. Nor can I make any comment on anything Arron Banks has done […]
Here are my main takeaways from yesterday’s budget
Although these things are somewhat subjective, yesterday’s budget could probably be considered a hit in pure political terms. Yes, some pundits, particularly on the left, have critiqued elements of it, such as the tax giveaways to the middle-classes. Yet there is no sense of danger here, of something on the level of the 2012 “omnishambles” […]
Interpreting John McDonnell’s latest interview on Brexit – yes, I do go beyond “It’s laughably crap”, don’t worry
So, what is there to say about Brexit anymore? We’re all just waiting for the May-EU drama to play out, for the prime minister to present the deal to parliament – and then the actual unknowable, namely will such a thing get a majority in the Commons or not. As has been obvious for a […]
A brief history of how we got to where we are, Brexit, Corbyn, everything. In less than a thousand words
Perhaps the biggest theme of this era across the West is that politics has become completely polarised; that Left and Right have gone to further extremes, with the Centre being ignored by the electorate. I’m going to try and explain here, in the simplest terms I can, why this happened. Again, I will be simplifying […]
Imagining the May 2019 Euro elections – in the UK
So, that whole UK-EU negotiation thing is almost all wrapped up, right? I haven’t bothered to look at the news over the last week or so, but I don’t need to in order to know that May got the cabinet and the DUP to accept the backstop and now everything’s pretty much on plan for […]
Another look at a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. The question is not whether it would be good or bad, but actually in any way achievable
An article in the Telegraph this morning declares, “US ready to negotiate free trade deal with UK ‘as soon as’ Britain quits the EU, says Trump envoy”. This, of course, has nothing to do with the timing of May having to come to terms with the EU on the Irish backstop question this very day. […]
We’re down to four possible Brexit scenarios – here they are
Dominic Raab heads to Brussels for a chat with Barnier – but nothing is agreed regarding the backstop. A feeling of drama grips the bubble, while calm continues in the rest of the UK, and indeed, in Brussels itself. Where does “hell week” leave us then? There are only really four ways I think Brexit […]