The news on Brexit lately has been mostly of a piece, for once. “Brexit: UK has already ‘agreed in principle’ with EU to Norway-style transition” ran a headline in the Independent on Monday. “Should we stay or should we go? Why the EU customs union issue is threatening to rip Tory party apart” was the […]
It was these two things that led to Britain’s recovery in the 80s – and why that’s relevant to where we are now
Warning: I am very likely to alienate almost everyone with this article. You have been forewarned. As most of us know (although there are still holdouts on the Left on this subject, which will become relevant later on), Britain was in a bit of a mess in the 1970s. The “sick man of Europe” the […]
The Labour Party takes one more step towards destruction – how it could unwind from here
I sometimes wonder what I would start my documentary about the death of the Labour Party with, years from now. Until today, I figured the first clip would be Ed Miliband’s resignation speech following the 2015 election defeat. While all of Scotland bar one constituency had been wiped out, and Ed Balls, his prospective chancellor, […]
This is the biggest problem the Conservative Party faces – and it’s not Brexit
Michael Gove was on Radio 4 this morning, talking about the environment but of course, was asked about Brexit and many other things affecting the Tories at present. Whatever you think of his politics, it is amazing how much better at this sort of thing Gove is than most of the rest of the cabinet. […]
Toby Young has now quit – why this reflects badly on the Left
This morning it has been announced that Toby Young has resigned from the board of the Office of Students. The resignation follows a barrage of complaints on social media, almost solely from the Left. The attacks seemed to focus on two things in regards to Mr Young’s supposed lack of suitability for the job. Before […]
If you think this reshuffle means Theresa May is weak, you might want to think again
The reshuffle is ongoing as I write this, with most of it still to come. So far, it’s been a good day for Brandon Lewis, a bad day for CCHQ’s social media team. I could offer my thoughts on the reshuffle overall – from what’s in the air as rumours thus far, most of it […]
Could a Labour-SNP-Lib Dem coalition government actually work in any way?
The polls have settled into one of their periodic lulls. They consistently come back with Labour and the Tories pretty much neck in neck, both of them in the very early 40s. Some of them have the Tories a point or two ahead, some of them have Labour just ahead. UKIP are still dead and […]
Here’s the latest constitutional problem thrown up by Brexit
Unless something really unforeseen happens, the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will pass the House of Commons in the coming weeks. This is where the fun might just begin. For it then goes to the House of Lords. Several peers have been vocal about their dislike of the Bill (not least Andrew Adonis) and the government, […]
Exploring how racism works in 2018
Happy New Year everyone. Yesterday, possibly out of boredom created by the long holiday season, I kicked a hornet’s nest on Twitter. Not like the time I tweeted at an official Assad apologist whom I knew had to have their account booby trapped by Putin bots (I got over a thousand responses; most of them […]
I think I’ve finally figured out why Theresa May lost her majority in June – and why that’s still important now
There are many competing theories as to why May managed to lose her parliamentary majority in a snap election she called in order to increase the slim one she was sitting on. In my book “Apocalypse Delayed: Why the Left is Still in Trouble”, I had a go at few myself. Usually people surmise it […]