In an interview in the Guardian this week, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron gave an interesting, counter-intuitive take on Tony Blair: “Blair in three chapters – the final chapter is post 9/11, where breathtaking foolishness after foolishness, hubris and something that diminished Britain in the world, cost the lives of thousands of innocent people and […]
Corbyn finally has a decent PMQs – and it is easy to see why
The Left is cracking the Cava about Jeremy Corbyn having finally got the best of a Tory prime minister at Prime Minister’s Questions. Fair enough – it’s been some time in coming, and there is no doubt that Corbyn won the session. But if you stop to think why that is, several things about the […]
ASLEF leader compares Hilary Benn to Hitler – and that’s not even this worst thing about his speech
Today marks the end of TUC congress. To explain what that is in layman’s terms, it is an annual conference where people interested in trade unions come together to discuss trade union type stuff. This year’s event is in Brighton. I’d like to highlight a segment from the congress speech of Tosh McDonald, the president […]
The Right usually makes no sense when it talks about Brexit – and this is why
When one examines the Conservative Party’s internecine divisions and all out obsessions regarding the European Union down through the years, it is worth noting that a great deal of them make no sense. Lest you think this is going to be some Remainer diatribe, allow me to elaborate. Some Brexit positions on the Right at […]
Labour will look back very soon on the whole Owen Smith saga with deep regret
“Definitely…I’m unashamedly a socialist. I’m unashamedly an idealist.” – Owen Smith, summer of 2016 If Labour is indeed unable to pull itself out of its current woes and what we are witnessing now are its death throes, many historians will look back with confusion on why the Labour right chose as its potential saviour a […]
Protected: The Lucy Frazer “Basic Instinct” moment should be beneath us all
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Another terrible Corbyn moment in the House of Commons was witnessed yesterday
Particularly after David Davis’ waffle from the dispatch box on what Brexit might mean earlier this week, Corbyn was presented with a golden opportunity to expose Theresa May and the Tories’ weak spot yesterday at PMQs. As usual, he declined the invitation. The Corbynistas like to talk about how the Guardian is a Blairite mouthpiece […]
Do we need a new Clause IV moment? Why socialism is the elephant in the centre-left room
Many on the left of Labour still take pleasure in decrying Blair’s altering of Clause IV of the party’s constitution, citing it as definitive proof that the former Labour leader never cared about his own party’s ideological core. Yet what I’ve always found interesting about that “moment” at the special Easter conference in 1995 is […]
What did we learn from David Davis yesterday?
It has become a cliché to mention that you couldn’t make the Thick of It these days because actual politics has become so ridiculous. Yet it is difficult to avoid bringing it up after a day like yesterday. David Davis addressed the House for the first time from the dispatch box since becoming Minister for […]
May’s pledge not to hold a general election until 2020 should be a massive help to the centre-left – but it probably won’t be
I have wondered for some time whether Theresa May’s promise not to try for an early general election was a ploy. The thinking goes like this: you say you won’t hold one so that you don’t fall into the speculation trap Gordon Brown did nearly a decade ago – yet it is always there if you […]