I took the train up from London to Liverpool yesterday afternoon. I felt gloomy about it, which is strange, because I usually look forward to Labour conference each year. A whole big mess that I have no real emotional stake in – plus I get to see a lot of Labour people I like that […]
While Labour’s call for a general election makes political sense, they haven’t bothered to have it make any logical sense whatsoever
A repeated theme from the Labour frontbench for many months now has been that a second referendum on Brexit would be a terrible idea, and that if May crashes and burns on the rocks of the negotiations, we should have a general election instead. The problem is, they really haven’t thought this one through. Like, […]
Could Boris come out for Remain at the last moment?
I will start by saying that I base none of what is to immediately follow on rumours I’ve heard swirling around Westminster, nor some sort of insider’s knowledge regarding what Boris may or may not be planning. I really have no idea what BoJo is thinking or even rumoured heavily to be thinking. I can […]
At Lib Dem conference, Lib Dems vote against……free trade, particularly with developing nations
For the second year in a row, I am not attending Lib Dem conference. I went for ten years straight, but now, I both emotionally can’t face it and also, given the decline in the party’s fortune, I have no real professional reason to go (I’ll be at both Labour and Tory, if any of […]
Why “chuck Chequers, keep May” is logically absurd
Boris, as ever, is leading the charge for the Tory Brexiteers. In doing so, he has explicitly laid out the strategy of trying to destroy the Chequers “agreement” while simultaneously keeping May in Number 10. As he writes in the Daily Telegraph on the matter: “It’s not about the leadership. It’s about the policy. It’s not […]
Why I really doubt there will be a Tory leadership contest before March 2019
Parts of Westminster are aflutter with the notion that we could have a new prime minister soon. I don’t see it. I realise the ERG group and their affiliates are annoyed with May and feel betrayed by her; but the window to get rid of her has very long since passed. Further, their feelings of […]
Why Vince Cable’s proposed reforms of the Lib Dems are a good thing
After much speculation, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable has finally come out and said he wants to step down from the leadership as soon as logically possible. The timing on this he left vague – understandably – and seems to centre around both next May’s locals and Brexit being complete and/or halted. In addition, he […]
Here’s how a second referendum happens
For a very long time, I considered a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU to be a complete impossibility. Neither major party has ever endorsed the idea, which is pretty fatal as these things go. However, I think it is starting to look ever more likely to happen due to a strange, in […]
People aren’t necessarily rejecting centrism when they reject the Lib Dems. They might just be rejecting the Lib Dems
This morning, I saw in my Twitter feed a tweet from George Eaton, the political editor of the New Statesmen, which read: “The Lib Dems are on 6%. It’s almost like centrism isn’t what voters want.” It reminded me of one of my pet peeves of this current political era: people extrapolating from the low […]
Why does everyone try and make both May and Corbyn out to be what they are clearly not?
A new poll on Brexit is out today, commissioned as ever by the Remainers. This one tells us, like many polls on Brexit are telling us at the moment, that Labour Leavers are switching to Remain in significant numbers. Given some Tories are all over the media talking up the idea that Brexit equals some […]