I don’t know what it is about UKIP, but for a party that sees itself as being defenders of all things free and British they really do have a thing for despotic autocrats. Take Mark Reckless, the soon to be the Indie Party’s second Member of Parliament, and his recent contribution to the immigration debate […]
The Tories’ Extremism Disruption Orders proposal is a truly terrible one
The Conservative Party does not like it when the government sticks their noses into people’s business. Unless they are the wrong kind of people doing the business, of course. It seems that in the right set of circumstances, noses are most welcome in Tory circles. I say this off the back of Theresa May’s outline […]
Blunkett comments on immigration highlight the liberal/non-liberal split in British politics that cuts across party lines
David Blunkett has decided to weigh into the immigration storm; as if we didn’t have enough hotheads running around making noise about it already (including as of yesterday, the mayor of Calais). He says Michael Fallon’s comments on English towns being “swamped” and “under siege” were basically spot on, and that the Defence Secretary was […]
Labour’s Scottish problem
Johann Lamont, the Scottish Labour leader, quit her post over the weekend. Glasgow Central MP Anas Sarwar has taken over temporarily as interim leader, while Labour rolls out a quick timetable for her permanent replacement – the new leader will be announced on December 13th. Only problem with the tight table is that nominations for […]
The Fallon “swamped” comments and subsequent climb down show how the politicians are running scared – and that’s not entirely a good thing
The Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, used some very strong language in an interview given to BBC Radio 5 Live over the weekend, suggesting that English towns were being “swamped” by immigrants and in fact were “under siege”. After a confusing series of statements from Number 10, Fallon has today apologised. “I misspoke […]
Blue Labour are looking to re-launch – but it may be too late
Frank Field wants to get Blue Labour up and running again as an above ground political, mainstream mode of political thought with a book due to be published in February entitled Blue Labour: Forging a New Politics. I use the words “above ground” due its dwelling below the surface since 2011, when Blue Labour’s leading […]
Memories of 2010: Steve Hilton and Michael Gove’s joint birthday party
Things, as you may remember, were reasonably rosy at the start of the Coalition. The Tories were so happy to be back in government and the Lib Dems so pleased to have made it back after several generations hiatus that crucial differences between the two parties were swept aside as much as possible. This sometimes […]
More AV referendum japes: role playing games
I went into Yes to AV HQ on the Monday following polling day, which was May 9th. As I approached my desk I found that someone was asleep underneath it. I noticed then that the office was littered with empty lager cans. The culprit was Sam, one of the interns. I shook him back to […]
More AV referendum fun: the Sick Baby Billboard
In the way that members of a certain generation remember exactly where they were when they first heard that John F Kennedy had been shot, those who either worked or volunteered on, or were in any way emotionally involved with the Yes to AV campaign will never forget the circumstances under which any of us […]
When you think about it, conservatism and UKIP-ism are complete opposites
British conservatism, or modern Toryism, rests on two key principles as I see it. The first is the idea that people, once of an appropriate age, are completely responsible for themselves and the consequences of their behaviour. No outside factors should be weighed in for consideration; it’s rather unfortunate if you had an abusive parent, […]