For some time, I have listened to the words of many Brexit friendly Tory MPs and wondered precisely where they were coming from. Despite singing the praises of free trade and open markets, what the EU has achieved in this arena is always completely discarded by this group. Likewise, getting something similar in terms of […]
This one Daily Telegraph article tells you everything you need to know about why UKIP never succeeded as a political party
There is a live debate around whether Stoke Central was UKIP’s Waterloo or not. I have thrown my hat into the ring already, saying that I think it was; however, such a declaration was not made without a certain amount of nervousness on my part. UKIP have been written off by the cognoscenti many times […]
How Brexit became everything – a “2017” except
The following is a small excerpt from my book, “2017”, available now in digital form (http://amzn.to/2lXBAdp) and paperback (http://amzn.to/2kYXmhh). Why did Britain vote to leave the European Union on June 23rd, 2016, in a nutshell? Like any election victory of any kind, the Leave vote was a big tent of different interests who rallied together […]
“Road to Brexit” by Jeremy Corbyn – a review
Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn gave a speech in Westminster yesterday about, well, the road to Brexit. Coming on the same day that the loss of Copeland was announced, it took on an interesting texture. Introducing the event was Sergei Stanishev, a Bulgarian MEP who is the president of the Party of European Socialists. I think perhaps Labour […]
“Real fight starts now” – the words to be etched on Labour’s tombstone
At least that’s over. The Article 50 Bill has now passed through the House of Commons with a massive 300+ majority. It now goes to the House of Lords where, whatever happens, at least Jeremy Corbyn will not be intimately involved. I want to start by saying that I do not want the rest of […]
Another day, another terrible day for the Labour frontbench
This is getting old. Just once, I’d like to be able to say that the frontbench of Labour had done something well. Actually, I won’t even set my standards that high – I’d settle for principled these days. But alack, you all know what I’m about to say. Sigh. I was in Portcullis House yesterday […]
Labour are now in the odd position of needing May to fabulously succeed – their future depends on it
During the 2010-2015 parliament, Ed Miliband’s Labour was in the slightly uncomfortable position of wishing the Coalition’s cuts bit hard enough to get people to reconsider their vote last time around; in other words, they had to hope that the people who usually support them were in line to suffer enough to repent. But political […]
Why any attempt by Labour to form a “progressive alliance” is doomed to failure
News reaches us that the Labour Party are trying to come to some sort of arrangement with both the Lib Dems and the Greens in Stoke Central in an effort to keep Paul Nuttall out of parliament. This tells you that Labour really do think they will lose the seat to UKIP in a few […]
Given the makeup of parliament and the Labour leadership, I don’t see the point in the EEA legal challenge
I have written on the topic of Labour and the Brexit proceedings a great deal lately, so I’ll try and make this one brief. Even I’m getting sick of talking about it; yet given how important this is for what remains of progressive politics in this country, it is still vital to catalogue every detail. […]
Why is John McDonnell still pretending that Labour are fighting against a “reckless Brexit”?
John McDonnell was on the Today programme this morning, discussing Labour’s position on Brexit. Why he agreed to do this is unknown (Diane Abbott, showing her much greater political nous, steered clear of both the vote and the aftermath), but there he was, trying to make sense of Labour’s position on Brexit. He, like everyone […]