Back in July, when the post-Brexit world was still fresh and new, I said that a Paul Nuttall led UKIP could become a terrifyingly large force in British politics. What UKIP has done since then has shocked everyone watching, not least myself. I don’t need to go through all of the items again – fist […]
What Tony Blair’s reappearance in British politics signifies
This week, Tony Blair has done a round of press, announcing that he wants to re-enter British politics. Sort of. Not frontline politics, for as he says, “there are elements of the media who would literally move to destroy mode if I tried to do that”. While he has a point about the media, that […]
Here’s the line that Labour should have taken on yesterday’s Autumn Statement
The response of John McDonnell, and in fact the response of Labour as a whole, to Hammond Autumn Statement yesterday did not work as I can only assume was intended. That isn’t newsworthy in and of itself – this is the new way of things. Labour are ineffective, hey ho. But what is sad is […]
Something to cheer liberals up: a summary of UKIP being rubbish, again
It is fair to say that liberals, by that I mean small ‘l’ liberals of whatever political allegiance, have not had much to cheer about in 2016. In fact, I would say one could almost define themselves as liberal if you found most of what has gone on in politics during this calendar year so far as […]
Theresa May is being pulled in two economic directions by Brexit
Theresa May’s speech to the CBI conference this morning, trailed in the newspapers, perfectly illustrates the economic policy bind she is in. In one breath she will say: “In the autumn statement on Wednesday, we will commit to substantial real terms increases in government investment in R&D investing an extra £2bn a year by the […]
Here’s the big secret about the liberal metropolitan elite that no one talks about
We are in the middle of an age in which the “liberal metropolitan elite” are the whipping boys for any and all things wrong for the ills of western society. Who even constitutes the dreaded “LME” changes seemingly day by day. Once upon a time, it was strictly the political elite: MPs, people who worked […]
The Right cannot be anti-business and yet expect business to stay onside forever
I’ve noticed a trend amongst a particular yet large section of the Right in Britain since Trump won. It is something that actually started after June 23rd came and went, but that the Trump victory has made a lot stronger. It is a triumphalism based on a set of perceived centre-right values that has not only changed since May […]
How it is humorous to watch previously pro-House of Lords politicians backtrack on the Upper House
Back in 2012, I worked for an organisation on the forefront of trying to help the then live Clegg Bill to change the Upper House from the current appointed House of Lords into an elected second chamber become law. So I was in the front row for all of the speechifying done by MPs around […]
Foreign nationals in prisons – an issue more of the moment than you might think
Across Europe, 21.7% of the prison population resides in cells not located in their country of origin. This ranges greatly from country to country. Luxembourg, perhaps understandably given it is a very small country in the middle of Europe, has a prison populace that is mostly foreign – 72.7% of all those incarcerated in Luxembourg […]
No, Donald Trump is not a liberal or a centrist – unless those terms have lost all meaning
We’ve had many “unexpected” people try and claim that Donald Trump is actually one of their bunch, and further, has been all along. And the guy hasn’t even been president-elect for a week yet. Embarrassingly, both sides of the Labour Party have got in on the act. View Emily Thornberry and her “Jeremy is like […]