As many long time readers will know, I am not a fan of either the Scottish National Party or indeed, of nationalism altogether. But I had sympathy reading Nicola Sturgeon’s words about a Brexit leading to a second Indy ref yesterday. “Bluntly, I believe the groundswell of anger among ordinary people in Scotland in these […]
My Stockholm Speech
Yesterday, I gave a talk in Stockholm, where I am currently, at least until this evening, on the future of British politics. It was put on by the Ohlin Institute, for whom I offer thanks for inviting me to speak on the subject. I’ve put it out on the site to see what others, particularly […]
Since May 7th, I have to admit, Cameron’s played it pretty well on Europe
A slender Tory majority was one of my most feared election outcomes, mostly because of one issue: Europe. I worried that if the Tories got a majority but only a very tiny one, the right of his party would hold Cameron to ransom on the subject. They would reject his calls for a renegotiation at […]
Could Labour lose the north of England like they lost Scotland?
Douglas Carswell wrote a piece on his website yesterday about how UKIP could seriously challenge Labour in the north, taking seats off them sooner than some might expect. He described his party breaking up a “one party state” and claims that UKIP do not need to move to the left in order to achieve this; […]
Why Farage hanging around like a bad smell is great for British pro-Europeans
Yesterday, UKIP went into a meltdown that has no precedent in British politics. Usually when something as epic as what has just occurred takes place, it involves people slagging each other off to journalists behind a shroud – the “senior source” of political journalism infamy. This grinds down morale and public trust in a party […]
Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband want Britain to remain in the EU. So why are neither of them willing or able to put forward their case for this?
Yesterday, Ed Miliband gave a speech on immigration in Great Yarmouth. It’s a seaside town, one of those seats in which the Tories, Labour and UKIP are basically neck in neck in the polls. So I slightly shuddered beforehand, particularly given a great deal of what Labour has said on this topic during the last […]
Finally, an aspect of Labour’s “35% strategy” that makes sense (reflections on Miliband’s Bloomberg speech)
For most of this parliament, Labour have been pursuing what they refer to behind the scenes as the “35% strategy”. The logic of it is that Labour only needs that percentage of the vote or thereabouts to win a majority. The theory is faulty in many respects, not least of which is that it doesn’t […]
Finally, someone tells the truth about a Brexit: that it would cost Britain money, not save it any
Open Europe have released a report outlining what a Brexit would look like economically – and from any sort of Eurosceptic standpoint, it’s not pleasant reading. It outlines four scenarios post-Brexit; they range from economically catastrophic to economically slightly positive. And the one in which Britain fares the best involves deregulating everything and having essentially […]
A lesson on why UKIP’s line about the Norwegian model is full of holes – from the Chief of Staff to the Conservative Norwegian Prime Minister
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of attending a Bruges Group event, or indeed a UKIP press conference, you will be familiar no doubt with the propaganda laid out at each which details how great the “Norwegian model” is and how it should be adopted by the UK. Which is why today’s speech by Vidar […]
UKIP kicks off its electoral campaign – a launch review
Yesterday, UKIP officially launched its general election campaign. Predictably, Farage gave a speech in a target seat in Essex. He described his party as “the challenger in virtually every seat from Birmingham to Hadrian’s Wall” and later described both Labour and the Conservative parties as “regional” ones, with the Conservatives only able to get seats […]