The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill received its third reading in the House of Lords on May 9 and is now in the final stages – consideration of amendments – before royal assent. The Trade Union Congress estimates about 5.5 million public sector workers will lose the right to strike as a result of this bill. They […]
‘It couldn’t happen here.’ ‘This is not Nazi Germany.’ ‘It’s completely over the top to use the ‘F’ word.’ ‘Fascism? Come on! That’s hyperbole!’ As regular readers will know, we’ve been strongly opposed to the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill and watched in horror as the Lords’ amendments were disregarded. Indeed, Braverman then proceeded […]
The results of the Council Elections are now in, and it is a good time to ask: what have we learned? Our take is that: The results were worrying for the Conservatives; but They were deeply worrying for democracy; so We can be confident about the next election but not complacent. The results were worrying for the Conservatives […]
The Conservatives are now criminalising peaceful protesters for no more than demanding that we follow the science and stop drilling for new oil and gas. What are people supposed to do when their Government ignores the world’s scientific experts who say we are ‘firmly on track to an unlivable world’? Would you sit meekly on […]
‘‘I’m alright, Jack.’ : a remark indicating smug and complacent selfishness.’ Collins Dictionary Most people will associate this saying with the 1959 film by the Boulting brothers, which highlighted the enormous gap between management and workers, upper and lower class folk. It is a comedy with a very strong message and well worth a view to see how little has changed in […]
Tomorrow, lots of voters across England will be heading to the polls for their local elections. This year, many will be turned away for lacking approved forms of ID. Whether it is Frank*, 77 and retired, who explained to us that he has, “a freedom pass with a very poor photo which may not be acceptable, […]
After 13 years in power, the Conservatives want us to believe that the UK is safe in their hands. This article explains how, given a just a few more years, they can complete their transformation of the UK into a playground for their donors – at our expense: There has been a successful, but gradual, unwinding of […]
The Labour Party’s recent ‘attack ad’, suggesting the prime minister was soft on sexual abusers of children, raises profound, urgent questions about how a tolerant society can best defend itself against those who would wreck it, says Andrew Levi. You want to fight fire with fire? Easy to say. Who should pull the trigger, when […]
Dear Editor, The French Revolution was a defining period in the social history of France. Totally fed up with a ruling class that lived in ridiculous splendour whilst ignoring the plight of common people – ‘Let them eat cake‘ , the masses rose up and took drastic action. ‘Madame Guillotine’ was kept very busy, not […]
Brexitism is destroying Britain, says Andrew Levi. If our political parties fail us now, we face an existential threat. Munich, 1938 During the United Kingdom’s long march into the European Communities, leading to membership in 1973, then the referendum in 1975 on whether to stay in, ‘anti-marketeers’ invoked the appeasement of Hitler at Munich to […]
I learnt two things about the subject of child grooming gangs on Monday’s edition of The News Agents podcast. Firstly, there’s no evidence of over-representation of any ethnic group within these gangs. Secondly, some allegations have indeed been ignored because of “cultural sensitivities”. It's right to be horrified by the latter while recognising the vitally important […]
Dear Editor, Once again, I find myself in complete agreement with the analysis of one of your contributors (Jim Grace, writing about the Conservatives’ capture of the BBC). Although I don’t watch Match of the Day, following the Lineker debacle I made a formal complaint to the BBC about long-term right-wing bias within that organisation. […]
Many people across the country will this week have seen an envelope from their local Conservative Party slither its way through their letter box. Inside, if they live in an area where the Conservatives do not control the local council, they may have found a letter of dubious literary merit, telling voters how terrible the […]
If you didn’t watch the Johnson lie/excusathon, here’s a potted summary. Disappointingly, the King James Bible did not spontaneously combust at the touch of the former PM’s mendacious fingers, but the smell of burning boxer shorts was definitely in the air. The Privileges Committee’s questioning, under Harriet Harman’s quietly authoritative chairmanship, was a model of […]
In 2002, Theresa May famously said to the party faithful, “Yes, we’ve made progress, but let’s not kid ourselves. There’s a way to go before we can return to government. … You know what some people call us: the nasty party.“ Since regaining power, however, it does not seem as though the Conservative Party has been […]
Thousands of words have been said in reply to Lineker. It interests me that hardly anyone has looked closely at what terms and phrases were being used in Germany in the 1930s to see if they match (or not) what’s said today by Ms Braverman. I offered a list, meant only as a starter. Originally […]
The issue of BBC capture by government is serious. BBC capture by one of the parties is even more serious. But the worst scenario is what I think has actually happened: BBC capture by an extremist right wing fringe group that was no more than a weird sect within one party. The ERG / Brexiters […]
The aim of so much of the ‘commentary’ which blights today’s UK is to persuade people there is no legitimate public conversation to be had about morality or compassion. To persuade them that there is only “virtue signalling”, “wokery” and “sanctimony”. Once enough people accept that premise, you are in deep trouble. Think about it. […]
Traditional Conservative politics, as the name suggests, amongst other things, places a significant emphasis on the conservation of the tried and tested, the reliable, the traditional, and so on. Traditional conservativism prioritizes practical experience over abstract theorizing, and prefers gradual changes, organically developing and emerging from the local community, to sweeping changes imposed from above. For a […]
There was a moment recently when journalist Lewis Goodall made me cry. “The kind of crushing thing”, he said, “is what pulls them, like so many before them, to Britain. It’s the esteem they hold us in. They think Britain is different. They think Britain will treat them better”. It's poignant to think that, even […]
Many senior former Conservatives have warned us about the current state of their party. Philip Hammond wrote: “the Conservative party has been taken over by unelected advisers, entryists and usurpers who are trying to turn it from a broad church into an extreme right-wing faction. Sadly, it is not the party I joined.” Anna Soubry said […]
In fairness, it’s not an exceptionally observant point to make: anywhere you look, pundits are noting the unshakeable air of malaise around Westminster. It’s nothing compared to the death spiral of Johnson’s regime, or the barely-controlled hysteria of Truss’s brief reign of economic terror, but it’s there. The waters may be calm, but there are […]
The truth: Brexit offers no added value to Britain. Speaking to The Observer this week, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, spoke common sense. “For me, for many of us, Brexit remains a nonsense,” he said. “Taking into account British national interest, there is no added value to being outside the Single Market and […]
Once upon a time, there were some men who made a lot of money from doing things that were wrecking the planet. They had known for ages that they were putting toxins in the air and water, causing global warming and damaging the health of their employees and the general public and the environment, but […]
This is a long post from Oct 2019, and some of what it says would have seemed seem hard to believe back then. But now? Now when we see cuts to public services, the increasing wealth gap, steady defunding of council services, the running down of the NHS and talk of the use of artificial […]
So, finally, Sunak found himself in a position where sacking Nadhim Zahawi was his only option. It really does not look much like an act of leadership and integrity and, as many have pointed out, it’s not every sacking letter that manages to combine “it’s clear there has been a serious breach of the ministerial […]
For many years, in the UK as well as other countries, progress across a wide range of issues seemed to be the natural order of things. Almost every year, the economy would grow a little and people’s real (inflation-adjusted) wages would grow with them. Almost every year, in other words, most people would become just […]
There must have been a time when the Conservative party stood for conserving things, for responsible stewardship and avoiding needless waste. I know for sure that’s what Conservative friends of mine believe in. Business-like decision-making, investing in our future. But like many Tory voters, my friends now feel abandoned by a party stripped bare of […]
If Alexander Darwall, the landowner behind the wild camping judgement, had actually been hired to recruit numbers to the right to roam cause, he could not have done a better job. 3,000 people made the effort to travel to the village of Cornwood, climb the roads and tracks to Stall Moor, stand together in the […]
This is an important summary of the situation from Jacob Öberg: Absolute must-read Brexit newsletter by Peter Foster which this week takes a shot at our ‘beloved’ Retained EU Law Bill (returning to the Commons) which is what Peter calls some ‘pretty crazy baggage’ from the outwardly sensible Sunak Government. Short recall, the REUL Bill […]