It’s been repeated ad nauseam since Friday morning – and the phrase “a week is a long time in politics” has never seemed so apt as this week – but worth repeating again: Scotland voted 62-38 to remain in the EU, while England voted 55-45 to leave. That’s a gaping 17 point difference. Back in […]
It’s not all his fault – but Jeremy Corbyn needs to go, right now
In the wake of Brexit and Cameron’s resignation as prime minister, there have been calls from inside of the Labour Party, particularly the PLP, to challenge Corbyn’s leadership. It is worth trying to look at this as rationally as possible. In many ways, blaming Corbyn for Brexit is unfair. It wasn’t his idea to have […]
Owen Jones is correct: the right of Labour must let go of Tony Blair
As you know, I don’t agree with Owen Jones all that much. However, he wrote a piece the other day that was spot on entitled, “If Blairites want a future they must divorce themselves from Blair“. In the piece, Owen describes beautifully how a need to link themselves with Blair continually undermines the right of […]
Jeremy Corbyn: The Outsider – a review
The following is a review of the Vice documentary, “Jeremy Corbyn: The Outsider”, which is a half hour long behind the scenes look at Corbyn and his team, directed and presented by Ben Ferguson. I know what you’re thinking: here’s my chance to revel in another Corbyn media misstep. But I genuinely watched the documentary […]
It scares me to think of how close to a horror show we really are sometimes
In a little over three weeks time, British voters will go to the polls with the possibility of the country leaving the European Union. Although we’ve become used to the referendum and all that has come with it, we should pause for a moment to reflect on how amazing it is that the plebiscite is […]
What a holiday in England in May tells me about the EU referendum result
We came to East Anglia on family business/pre-summer getaway idea. Escaping from London is always refreshing, obviously. It also reminds one of what a different world London exists in compared to the rest of England; as if during this EU referendum mud slinging epoch we needed that much reminding of this fact. I’ve written previously […]
Tuition free university leads to fewer poor students attending – which only makes sense
The Sutton Trust, Britain’s foremost education think tank, released a paper at the end of this week exploring what effect free tuition has had on Scottish universities and their socioeconomic profile. Given free tuition is a shibboleth of the Left, the findings make for interesting reading. Kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in England are 2.4 times […]
How becoming a mayor is the new black
Even though he’s already put his foot in it enough to amuse us all, Andy Burnham wishing to become mayor of Manchester in the first place is interesting in and of itself. He’s shadow home secretary for a start, albeit within an opposition that is going nowhere fast. But in the wake of Sadiq Khan […]
Inviting Ed Miliband to join the shadow cabinet would be another Corbyn unforced error
The Times reports today that Jeremy Corbyn may be about to invite Ed Miliband to take up a shadow cabinet role. Although no sources are directly named, this looks like an officially sanctioned leak, one that was meant to hit the papers. Some of those quoted off the record were less than pleased about this […]
What do Labour moderates do with this poll?
A YouGov poll out today, with the fieldwork having been done just last week, makes extremely sober reading for anyone within Labour or indeed anyone on the centre-left generally who isn’t down with Project Corbyn. Labour members were asked if they thought Corbyn was doing well or badly as leader. The numbers are: WELL 72% […]