Author: Mark E Thomas

It has been widely reported that Conservative Peer Baroness Michelle Mone and her family had received almost £29 million from a firm on whose behalf she had lobbied. She helped PPE Medpro to win government contracts worth over £200 million for providing personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic. As the Financial Times writes: “The government came […]

The Conservative Party have now been in power in the UK for 12 years. Over that time huge economic and social problems have emerged. It is clear that the UK needs a change in direction. And this is what Truss and Kwarteng promised. They have now shown very clearly how they intend to tackle these […]

Johnson has a strong claim to be the worst UK PM so far in terms of “… wages, economy, COVID, poverty, … preserving democracy, etc, …” But before the history books are written, he will be eclipsed by Truss, argues Mark E Thomas. It is true that Truss has inherited (and played an active part […]

Truss has launched her so-called ‘plan for growth.’ This article shows that the likely impact of that plan is to redistribute wealth upwards at an increasing rate, impoverishing most of the UK population. The post-war period 1945-1980 was known as the Golden Age of Capitalism; the period from 1980-2015 was the age of Market Capitalism. […]

The UK Government has a Bill of Rights bill which (at the time of writing) is in the Commons for its second reading. Many civil liberties commentators have expressed alarm about the Bill, suggesting that it risks watering down the rights of UK citizens. Are they right to be concerned about the Bill, or are they over-reacting? They are […]

The cross-party Health and Social Care Select Committee slammed the “absence of a credible government strategy” on the NHS. Sadly, we think the government’s strategy is quite clear – it is just not what they have been telling us it is. The Health and Care Act has given ministers all the powers they need to […]

In the wake of Steve Bray’s threatened arrest, this article counts the warning signs the UK has largely ignored. And shows what we can do about it. When Johnson first pulled together a cabinet of market fundamentalists, most people ignored the risk of a constitutional crisis. Most of us ignored Philip Hammond’s warning about “extreme […]

It is obvious why those who have never seen themselves as Conservative should not support this government. This article explains why those who do see themselves as traditional Conservatives should take a stand against this government: This government shares none of the values that traditional Conservatives hold dear; Traditional conservatives prize pragmatism and competence; this government is reckless […]

At some point, possibly this year, the Johnson premiership will be history. Johnson says that he would like to be judged on his record. How does that record look? Johnson’s record is extremely poor in terms of measurable things like wage growth, protecting the economy, keeping the citizens of the UK safe from COVID and […]

The battle in the UK is not the traditional competition between parties, but a much more dangerous struggle between a small number of billionaires and the bulk of the UK population. On 5 May, much of the country went to the polls: most for local and mayoral elections, and Northern Ireland for the Assembly. The results […]

Sometimes a moment can be pivotal in a way which is not obvious at the time. This article explores whether the UK is at such a critical moment now, without most of the population realising it. And it suggests what we can do about it. The challenge is that we have a government which is […]

This article by Mark E Thomas explores whether the Johnson government is the worst in recent British history. You can read the ‘summary’ or delve into the supporting articles. Either way, it’s a compelling and damning reckoning. All politicians (and all people) occasionally lie. But Johnson is “probably the best liar we’ve ever had as […]