Alexander Temerko, a reasonably large Tory donor, has announced to the world – via that well known, right-leaning outlet, The Guardian – that whatever happens in the EU referendum, David Cameron should step down as quickly as possible after June 23rd. “The Conservative party is fracturing following the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith and the […]
Why Boris is starting to remind me of Donald Trump
I have a confession to make: whenever I’m at Tory party conference (I attend all the party conferences every autumn), I try and clear time to see Boris’ speech. There is no equivalent at any other conference – I have never thought “can’t miss Emily Thornberry” while at Labour. To do this isn’t as simple […]
Homegrown reaction to the horror in Brussels demonstrates how deep the European divide is in Britain
After the attacks in Brussels yesterday, several Eurosceptic voices used the events as a way of arguing that Brexit was more necessary than ever. Alison Pearson, the columnist, wrote about how Brussels was the jihadist capital of Europe, and how its position as the de facto capital of Europe somehow discredited the whole European project. […]
The official opposition suddenly springs to life – in spite of Jeremy Corbyn
At long last! Labour takes advantage of Tory weakness. Stephen Crabb, the new Work and Pensions Secretary, was subjected to the sort of grilling we haven’t seen come from the opposition benches in a good long while. Yvette Cooper and Liam Byrne earn special mention. They ruthlessly went to town on Crabb, asking repeatedly what the […]
Here’s how the next two years of Conservative Party travails will go
I’ll nail my colours to the mast here, straight off: I don’t see how Osborne becomes prime minister from here. A lot of commentators are saying the same thing, but are hedging their bets, saying George has wounded himself, perhaps fatally, but there is probably some way back from this budget. No hedging about it from […]
The way the Right have turned on Osborne is laden with hypocrisy
I know many of you out there reading this have, it is fair to say, never been fans of George Osborne. However, spare a moment to consider how quickly the Right have turned on him – for supposedly moral reasons as well. This excerpt from Janet Daley’s Telegraph article yesterday sums up perfectly this new, […]
Could Osborne’s budget blues affect whether we stay in the EU or not?
It is a really weird time in British politics. There are strange currents going this way and that, breaking down traditional right-left thought patterns. Europe is the classic issue in this regard. Most Labour MPs want the UK to remain a member of the EU. However, the success of this partly rests on a Tory […]
Is there a “conservative” viewpoint on disability benefits that can achieve consensus on the right?
One of the big things to come from this year’s budget (other than the sugar tax and endless speculation about what Osborne is up to and whether it will work or not) was the cuts to disability benefits. What’s interesting about for me about the debate on the right is that cuts to disability benefits […]
Budget 2016: it’s amazing how far George Osborne suddenly feels from being prime minister
Only a few short months ago, it was accepted wisdom within Westminster that George Osborne was going to become the next prime minister. “The one chart that shows how George Osborne is almost certainly going to be our next Prime Minister,” the Independent declared back before 2015 conference season, and that is but one of […]
If the country votes to leave the EU in June, the Tories could face a huge backlash on immigration
I’m Immigration is one of the key planks of the Vote Leave argument. No wonder: in terms of trying to get the British public keyed up about the EU, immigration is the one thing that does it for a large portion of the population. This is oddly one of the reasons the Brexiteers in the Conservative […]