Portions of the Left are up in arms about a trial the Tories plan to roll out at the next local elections during which British voters will be asked to present identification if they wish to vote. Or more to the point, people in certain parts of the country will be momentarily disenfranchised should they […]
The Left has reached the bargaining stage in regards to the events of 2016
For progressives, whether they be of the liberal centre or the hard left, 2016 was a traumatic year in so many ways. Brexit and Trump are but the most obvious signifiers in this psychological landscape; there are all sorts of ways in which this past year has damaged the collective psyche of the left of […]
Will the Berlin-Milan episode kill Schengen?
Anis Amri, the man who had driven a lorry through a crowded Berlin market on Monday, killing twelve people and injuring scores more, was shot dead by Italian police in Milan after an altercation yesterday. There are many unpleasant elements of this week’s continental episode, but one that might have a lasting effect involves the […]
What Jamie Reed quitting the PLP means
Jamie Reed, Labour MP for Copeland, has decided he doesn’t want to be a member of parliament any longer. This will trigger a by-election that it would be drastically understating the facts to call tricky for the Labour Party, to take place early in 2017. To say this is exactly what they did not need […]
Both the Left and the Right are wrong about free trade v free movement
The opening of the contest to see who will be the next Unite general secretary has led to an interesting look at the current state of the Left. It seems the idea that freedom of movement is kosher while freedom of capital is bad extends way beyond Corbyn and his inner circle. This problem here is that this […]
Why 2017 could be even worse than 2016
Now is that portion of every year when people begin writing epitaphs for the twelve-month period that is just about to elapse as well offering predictions for what is directly ahead. Given what transpired in 2016, from Brexit to Trump to everyone with talent seemingly dying, pundits are quicker to see the back of this […]
Why Theresa May is indeed no Margaret Thatcher
David Mellor, the former Tory minister of many various portfolios under both Thatcher and Major, was on Murnaghan this weekend, talking about Theresa May and the various comparisons to Thatcher she is always receiving: “When I was a minister for four years she treated me with even more disrespect than my mother did, but Margaret […]
Trump’s election highlighted what some have known for years – that America has a class system
I can’t recall the number of conversations I’ve had over the years, usually semi-drunken ones, regarding whether or not America has a class system or not. Many Americans and non-Americans, left-wingers and right-wingers, have insisted during such arguments that America does not have a class system at all, and to think otherwise is to misunderstand […]
What will this “populist” version of Jeremy Corbyn look like then?
The Labour Party have announced that in the new year, there will be a Jeremy Corbyn “re-launch”, one positing him as a “left-wing populist”. The first thing to say is that, ironic given the content, this story is so achingly Corbyn era Labour in its design it hurts: telling the Guardian you’ll be doing something […]
Have you heard the Labour MP’s Christmas song? It’s way worse than you think
Last night, someone asked me if I’d heard the Labour Christmas record. “You mean “JC for PM for Me?” I asked. “No, the one Jarvis, Rayner and McDonagh have done about workers rights.” “Oh my God no! I must hear this immediately.” “It’s way worse than you think.” “Worse than “JC for PM for Me”?” […]