Owen Smith has decided that under his proposed leadership (looking more distant by the day), the Labour leadership would be completely bound by conference as the decision making centre of the party – even if they formed a majority government. “My promise to the party is that I will not ignore conference. I will bind myself […]
News flash for the Left: being called a Tory isn’t an insult to most people
I’m not a member of the Conservative Party. Nor have I ever been a member. Nor am I considering becoming a member of the Conservative Party in the near future. Yet I do not consider being called a Tory an insult in any way shape or form. I have many friends and associates who are […]
Why Jeremy Corbyn is a bit like Slayer
When I was a teenager, I was a devoted fan for several years of the American death metal band known as Slayer. They were loud, they were aggressive sounding, they were sacrilegious – everything I was looking for in a musical act when I was fifteen. They sang about Satan; the lead guitarist had a […]
Why did Owen Smith say that?
I get the routine. Everyone out there who is any way moderate should back Owen Smith over Corbyn. Just look the other way when Smith says something silly; when he comes across as “Corbyn if Corbyn had any respect for parliamentary democracy whatsoever” and nothing more; but there is a line in the sand and […]
Is Nigel Farage destined to take over UKIP again?
There have been several party leadership contests in the UK since June 23rd, all vying for the title of greatest shit show ever, but I think the prize has to go to UKIP. Following the vote to leave the European Union and Nigel Farage’s resignation as leader of the party (third time and counting), UKIP […]
Fox v BoJo: what it tells us about Brexit
So the handbags between Boris Johnson and Liam Fox have begun sooner than most expected. Fox, predictably, is trying to grab some FCO land, claiming that he needs it in order to do his job properly (which may actually have a scintilla of truth about it), while Boris Johnson, equally predictably, is resisting all attempts […]
Is it possible for Labour to “re-unify” after the leadership contest?
Charlie Falconer has said on the BBC that Labour must unify in late-September, whatever the result of the Labour leadership contest is. “We’ve got to have the leadership election, we’ll get a result in the leadership election, then we as a party have got to unify. There’s more speculation about an early election. We as […]
If Theresa May doesn’t call a general election in the next twelve months, she’ll regret it
Keen watchers of British politics need no reminding that Gordon Brown almost called an election after he became prime minister in 2007, then didn’t, then regretted it deeply. It is one of the great what-ifs of the 21st century. Almost everything that fills out the political landscape today in the UK would be different. There […]
The NEC elections could mark the real beginning of the end for Labour
As it stands, Labour MPs are desperate not to leave their party, even after everything that has happened in the past year. They cling to the hope that Smith will win, somehow. That from there normalcy can slowly but surely be restored. But it is now becoming about more than just Corbyn’s leadership – the […]
Of course Corbyn would hang on as leader if Labour lost a general election
One of the things that has stymied Labour moderates thus far (and looks set to continue) is that they are still trying to fight conventional warfare while Corbyn goes guerrilla style. Take the mass resignations from the front benches – the idea was that he couldn’t possibly hang on if they did so. Yet here […]