Let it not be forgotten just how long the Republican old guard held out in regards to accepting Trump as the GOP presidential candidate – until the day they absolutely had to. Once the inevitable had been accepted, they did the only logical thing left to them and embraced the previously disliked character as wholeheartedly […]
Why comparing Venezuela to Saudi Arabia doesn’t get Corbyn off the hook
Corbynistas have taken to social media to defend their hero in the face of a fairly relentless right-wing onslaught on the topic of the Labour leader’s refusal to say a single bad thing about Maduro and his regime. When pushed by the press to condemn the Venezuelan leadership, Corbyn said: “What I condemn is the […]
Why Corbyn probably won’t condemn Maduro
Jeremy Corbyn has come under pressure from the media and his own MPs to say something negative about what is happening in Venezuela and to denounce Nicolas Madura. It is sad that one of the leaders of Britain’s two major parties has to be cajoled into saying a failing dictatorship is bad news, but there […]
Is there an emerging anti-Sunni feeling on the Left?
For those of you who have never experienced them, I will tell you a little bit about “Putin bots” on Twitter. I have no idea who actually runs these accounts or how they are manned, but they are a group of tweeters that fly at you on Twitter if you’ve crossed the wrong account – particularly […]
This is probably what will happen in Syria in the next few years – and few in the West care at all
I saw an item on Channel 4 news last night that is depressing me still. It was about Syria and the latest attacks on ISIS, and it reminded me about where the conflict in Syria, I believe, is inevitably headed, and how depressing it is that very few people in the West seem to care. […]
How this American football match reminds me of Corbyn’s Labour
Drawing on American football annals for an analogy that works for British politics may seem a stretch for some of you, but stay with me here. In 1916, Georgia Tech faced a college from Tennessee called Cumberland in a football match that lives on in infamy. It will become clear why this is. Cumberland had […]
What Emmanuel Macron becoming president of France means for Britain
In my book, “2017”, I predicted a Le Pen victory yesterday. When I wrote it, Macron had not yet emerged as one of the main contenders. It is amazing for me to think just how much the new president’s election win came from nowhere. Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way: the idea […]
Why the Left’s strategy over the past few years is a bit like the Iraq invasion
The decision for the then Labour government to join the US in invading Iraq in 2003 is pivitol for the Left; it was the moment when New Labour joined the ranks of the scorned, the unforgivable. When “Blairite” became pejorative. That’s why it’s ironic that the way the “coalition of the willing” went wrong in […]
A tour around the Balkans – part two
I’m really, really glad I’ve been to Montenegro. For a start, it is a visually incredible place, the mountains against the sea even more stark than in neighbouring Croatia. On a personal level, my general anxiety level decreased massively over the four days I spent in the country. However, first impressions of the place were […]
A tour around the Balkans – part one
I spent my Easter break travelling around Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Hercegovina. What I learned from my tour around the Balkans I think is interesting enough to relate to you all, and I want to do it while the impressions are fresh. For a start Croatia and Montenegro, but particularly Croatia as it is already […]