I didn’t watch the Farage-Brand Question Time when it aired last night. Truth is, I couldn’t really bear to. I watched the conveniently edited for YouTube highlights of both Nigel and Russell instead. It was all you really needed to see, wasn’t it? I for one didn’t need to sit through Penny Mordaunt and Mary […]
Three cheers for the face-sitting #pornprotest people
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, were once asked if there was any ethnic, religious or national category that they would make off-limits to their satire; whether any group was too taboo to make fun of. They said no, and their answer as to why was brilliant: because if they made […]
Gordon, the Lib Dems and the SNP: Alex Salmond has chosen rather poorly
It’s been the worst kept secret in British politics for some time now, but at last it’s gone above ground: Alex Salmond will run for a Westminster seat in the 2015 general election and has picked his constituency. It’s….Gordon. Oh. It’s a very strange seat for Salmond to have picked for several reasons. One, the […]
What the hell is George Osborne up to at the moment?
The Autumn Statement went well for George Osborne, something that all but the most ardent hammer and sickle waving comrade would have to concede. But he’s followed it all up with some bizarre statements to the press over the last few days. Here’s an example: “We are going to have to make savings… we are […]
Nigel Farage and traffic: it’s lack of infrastructure, not immigrants he should be moaning about
The UKIP leader managed to miss a reception on Friday evening, one in which people had paid £25 for the privilege of hearing Nigel speak (insert joke here about limited sympathy for those who would pay that much to hear Farage talk crap). He had an excuse at the ready for why he missed it, […]
The “Cameron and Osborne are more extreme than Thatcher” narrative is a bad one for the Left
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, in an attempt to claw back some terrain after the Autumn Statement went all his opponent’s way, has described Osborne as “more extreme than Thatcher”. This is a line that has been echoed across the Left during the course of this parliament. I understand the reason – Thatcher had a divisive […]
I think someday soon, Nigel Farage will jump the shark
On his LBC programme this week, Farage complained about breast feeding mothers, suggesting they should “perhaps sit in the corner”. I took the comment as Nigel playing to the gallery; his usual attempt to épater la bourgeoisie libéral and try and shore up the white van vote. Fine, that’s his shtick, no real surprise […]
Why the #CameronMustGo campaign is so misguided
I have been less than impressed by David Cameron’s premiership, I’ll announce up front. Faced with deciding that either the reason his party hadn’t won a majority in 2010 was because the modernising project hadn’t been taken far enough and thus opened a window to the Lib Dems to retain seats they would have otherwise […]
The Autumn Statement: if Labour doesn’t figure out how to change the scene very soon, they are going to get stuffed in May
The scene is a few days prior to the 2010 general election: Labour are embroiled in existential crisis. A bad campaign, the unpopularity of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Cleggmania have conspired together to create what looks to be the perfect storm. The party chiefs, while putting on a brave face for the public, worry […]
The “nasty party” dies hard: the Tim Aker leaflet, the Thurrock by-election, and the Conservative Party
A local by-election is the stage for a punch up between UKIP and the Tories, with those in blue coming out, in this instance, as the bad guys. The Thurrock Conservative Party has produced a leaflet that reminds you that it isn’t just Farage’s bunch that can be nasty. First off it refers to the […]