On Tuesday the 12th of June, all 15 amendments the Lords made to the EU Withdrawal Bill return to the House of Commons – with only one day given over to debate and the relevant votes. While it is clear this represents a certain amount of desperation on the part of Theresa May, it is […]
Why is May trying to get all of the Withdrawal Bill amendments through in one day? It can be for one of these three reasons
There are many in Westminster questioning Theresa May’s decision to hold one day of debate, with all of the votes inclusive, on the 15 Lords amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill – and many feeling sure they have the answer to that question. Here are the only possible reasons she is doing it this way: […]
Just how “socialist” are Corbyn, his followers and his policies? And how much should that worry us all?
Corbyn, like the rest of the current British hard left, presents himself as incredibly radical at times, yet at others as essentially moderate in approach, depending on the intended audience. He gets away with this in much the same way Donald Trump manages to land his wild vacillations: by throwing everything at the public so […]
This is why anti-Semitism really runs so deep on the British Left – and why that makes it so hard to stamp out
On April 17th, 2018, after much discussion within the Labour Party on the subject, a debate was had in the House of Commons around the topic of anti-Semitism in British politics. And while it was officially about that, it was really about anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. There were several poignant speeches from Labour MPs […]
Okay, now the Brexiteer obsession with Italy is getting extremely irritating
Given this looks set to drag on for some time ahead, I will write this article here and now and then shut up about it. It is a Remainer trope that that the Brexiteers are on their last legs; that they see the dream dying and are wrapped up in an angry phase of denial […]
How Theresa May not promoting from within could lead to her downfall
Tom Tugendhat is giving a speech today about foreign policy. For those of you who do not know, Tugendhat is a Tory MP, elected at the 2015 general election. He is also chair of the Foreign Affairs select committee. It is a strange time for select committees in that they are staffed with a greater […]
Why are England’s sporting failures always so predictably samey?
It is Day Two of the first test match of the summer; already, England have found a way to massively disappoint. They won the toss and elected to bat, on what was a windy, overcast day; it was as if Root had decided to bat first if he could the week before and no acts […]
Why the triggering of Article 50 made no sense
I would highly recommend, to my Remainer readers especially, reading Dominic Cummings blog, at least when he writes about Brexit. That may seem counterintuitive, but I do so because Cummings’ blog is like an oasis in a sea of Brexit insanity; he is now, sadly, one of the only Leavers who writes about leaving the […]
When exactly will Brexiteers overcome the myth that Brexit is an existential threat to the EU?
William Hague has written an article in today’s Telegraph entitled “As Itay has shown, the Euro is a far bigger threat to Europe than Brexit”. To which my reply, even before reading the article, was “No shit, Will”. At the heart of the intellectual case for Brexit was the idea that faced with Britain leaving […]
Onward: why and how Brexit is the elephant in the room for liberal Tories
A new think tank called Onward will launch itself this evening. It’s pitched itself as a Tory think tank, but I warmly welcome it. I get the sense that they want to push the Conservative Party back towards a more classically liberal direction of travel, away from the “citizens of nowhere” shtick that has marred […]