Yesterday, Corbyn had another one of his now infamous run-ins with the press. A Sky reporter asked him about anti-semitism (what else?) as he was about to enter a building and Jeremy did what he usually does in these kinds of situations: pull a face that is a combination of a deer in the headlights […]
Corbyn insisting that Labour has no problem with anti-semitism is making the problem worse
You know the old adage that says you’ve lost an argument the moment you bring up Adolf Hitler for any reason? Ken Livingstone proved that yesterday rather definitively. He also showed us conclusively that trying to explain something via the author of the Final Solution is a bad idea in politics, period. Particularly when you’re […]
Why 2016 Scottish Labour have become a bit like the 2015 Lib Dems
Scottish Labour are in a wee spot of bother, it is safe to say without controversy. Having been reduced from being the unquestionable top political force in Scotland to facing the prospect of coming third in the fast approaching MSP elections in a still astonishingly brief period of time remains, well, pretty astonishing. Kezia Dugdale is […]
Why today’s PMQs show how little Corbyn gets it
I stopped punching the Corbyn bag a little while back. Part of that came down to getting bored of saying the same thing in different ways; part of it was that the EU speech gave me some hope for the guy. Not much, I stress – but at least enough to give the bloke a […]
The problem for the Left is that it is stuck between two opposing views of the world
There’s been an interesting debate regarding the so-called “citizen’s income” on both the Left and Right in Britain over the last couple of years. The idea has gained more traction on the Left, with the Greens making it official policy (sort of) in the run in to the last general election. But the reasons many […]
Predictions for the May 2016 elections
With all the EU referendum stuff going on, it can sometimes be easy to forget that there are a large round of elections on May 5 – and furthermore that they could be important enough to have as much impact on the rest of this parliament as said EU referendum will. So taking them one […]
Why are all the “leaders of the revolution” old white guys?
We are living through a period when the politics of outrage is all the rage. When large portions of the populace across the western world yearn – and sometimes even vote – for politicians who try and push the “Overton window” either to the left or right. Nigel Farage, Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, Donald Trump […]
Cameron will probably survive the tax scandal – because of Labour and its supporters
This past weekend, Polly Toynbee was on the Andrew Marr Show, speaking about the Cameron Panama affair. The crucial thing she had to say during the spot was this: “That’s the real story, it’s not really about him having done anything abnormal for people as rich as him, it’s about simply being that rich — […]
To those who want Cameron to resign: be careful what you wish for
David Cameron has handled the offshore tax avoidance thing very badly, I think we can now declare. So badly, in fact, that we should now discuss the idea that it has threatened the future of his premiership. A lot of people out there, particularly on the left or centre-left of politics, would love to see […]
Farage goes to Scotland: what are UKIP for anyhow?
I thought by this time, with mid-April almost upon us, I’d be sick to death of Nigel Farage. Yet I haven’t actually seen or heard much from him of late. Perhaps he’s finally got the message that his brand of pub wisdom popping up everywhere isn’t that great for the Leave side’s chances, but I […]