What do despots do to hang on to power? Silence their enemies. Shut down critical media and fill the rest with propaganda. Surround themselves with cronies, sycophants and the enslaved compromised. Bung public funds to private donors. Normalise corruption. Suppress opposition votes. Shut down protest. Play the patriotism card. Blow the racist dog-whistle. Politicise the […]
We are delighted to publish this re-writing of Kipling’s If by formidable political journalist, Julian Haviland. Written in July 2019, it resonates even more strongly today – more’s the pity. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you If you can take offence at all […]
I recall a conversation with a Boris fan when I was on a street stall, campaigning for a second referendum to review the Brexit deal and decide whether it was what the country wanted. “I’m backing Boris!” he shouted gleefully, as he skipped past the Brexitometer with its mass of stickers in the “No to […]
Dear Sheryll Murray I noted a tweet by Kwasi Kwarteng and other Conservative ministers today telling us, in effect, to move on from the series of events known as Partygate. He said that the government had important things to get on with. Reflecting on a selection of current crises: the cost-of-living crisis was created […]
There are any number of ways of seeing the photograph’s issued yesterday of the party Boris Johnson attended on 13 November 2020. Denis Swayne MP managed to call it a work event yesterday, which was no excuse. No doubt Grant Shapps will destroy any remaining credibility he has by telling the morning media round some […]
Don’t miss this! As you will know, West Country Voices is a strong and vocal supporter of electoral reform – it’s essential for empowerment of citizens and engagement with the politics that affect our lives, no matter how much we may want to stay out of it or are bored or turned off by it. […]
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 […]
Please read, watch and share. She’s right. For a party that prides itself on the economy, the Tories have a shocking record of running it. Our economy has the slowest growth in the G7. We have greater regional inequality than almost any other developed nation. Food banks now do the job of Government in providing […]
No one cares about Cornwall. Not even half of Cornwall cares about Cornwall. The Duchy doesn’t care about Cornwall. Westminster doesn’t care about Cornwall. The sooner we realise this the better. All politicians care about is power and doing the bare minimum they can, to cling onto popular support, and if we dare to complain, […]
This is the text of Jenny Jones’ speech in the House of Lords’ Queen’s Speech debate. You can read all the speeches on Hansard, including the powerful words of Lord Judge who asked: “…what is the point of us being here if, when we identify a serious constitutional problem, we never do anything about it […]
Well, well! The ConservativeHome website makes for a fascinating visit. It seems applications are now open for a candidate to replace disgraced former MP for Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish, in the upcoming by-election. Anyone interested in standing needs to apply by 18 May. William Atkinson, the site’s assistant editor, writes: “Though traditionally safe, the […]
It’s story time:A land politically divided. Run by a controversial Conservative group. Where public services are visibly failing, and accusations of cronyism are growing.No, not the UK. Welcome to the metaphor that is Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole Council.Let me begin… Tonight sees a vote of no confidence (VONC) in BCP council leader Drew Mellor. It’s the first VONC […]
People of Britain! Today the Queen’s Speech will remind you of your priorities! You want to see all protest against your glorious Conservative government stopped. We will make it so. You want to see the men and women who are desperately trying to save the planet for your children and your children’s children locked up. […]
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 […]
Search, and you’ll hardly find any mention of this in the national press. But last night, the government won a vote to end the independence of the UK’s Electoral Commission. Yes, you read that right. The Tory government has just seized control of the Electoral Commission. It can no longer describe itself as independent. Best […]
That we face a risk of fascism taking hold in the UK, with democracy failing as a consequence, is something I have recognised as a very real risk for longer than most when writing my blog. The risk has come from a Tory party determined to hold power in the interest of the narrow clientele […]
It’s been a challenge to find anything to write in the latest edition of the Week in Tory. They’ve all been such well-behaved boys and girls. Only kidding: it’s absolute carnage. Don your biohazard suits, top up your breakfast absinthe, and let’s dive in. 1. Under Boris Johnson, 10 Downing Street now holds the record […]
The UK deserves and needs better than a lying, law-breaking Prime Minister – or the constitution will be wrecked, and the country with it. We are at a crucial inflection point, argues Andrew Levi: Perhaps everyone’s clear about what’s happening; but if not, here goes. Any minister, any MP, any journalist or other commentator, defending […]
Some years ago, while staying in the Loire Valley, we were taken by our French host to visit a memorial to seven crew members of an Avro Lancaster shot down over the Commune of Grez-Neuville in June 1943. It was special to him, since he was responsible for its upkeep, a role in which he […]
There is an old truism that suggests that the Leader of the Conservatives always enjoys the total support of their party until, that is, the day that they do not. So the question is, has that day arrived for Johnson? April 21 was a miserable day for Johnson. William Wragg laid into him from the […]
The UK and Russia are two of the ‘sick men of Europe’ (the others being Hungary and Poland), bookending a continent that has been pursuing peaceful collaboration and exchange for decades – on the whole with positive results in terms of stability and prosperity. Both countries have lost their way, crippled by myths and ‘alternative […]
Tomasz is our ‘resident’ Polish writer. We preserve his unique voice in this challenging, thought-provoking piece on the reality of Putin’s Russia and the implacability of evil. In the first days of this war I was really hoping it’s true, that this is just a madness of one man, that those poor boys were lied […]
Maybe until this month, Boris Johnson could have got away with the dead cat speech of 14 April. A rousing play to the ‘Leave’-voting gallery, appealing to xenophobia and fear whilst making a rational-sounding case for deporting thousands of young men each year to what amounts to a penal colony in Rwanda. Except, he is […]
Many will feel that the need for a written, enforceable constitution must surely be beyond doubt. But imagine if Johnson’s government decided to write it? [They’d want to ensure they were in power forever, thereafter, for sure. Ed] 1) When a prime minister or minister breaks the ministerial code, an apology will suffice instead of […]
As some of you might expect, the latest banshee howl that is #TheWeekInTory is quite lengthy, and I advise a deep dive into your preferred sedative before beginning. Let us begin where the last one ended, which is, astonishingly, a mere five days ago [cue wobbly screen]… 1. Having spent a week insisting there was […]
Dear Derek, I’m really not sure how much more of this you and your colleagues can take. I know you entered politics to help people, to change society for the better, to make a difference. And at a local level you appear to be succeeding, albeit up against 12 years of austerity and economic and […]
Here is a sample of the letters MPs will no doubt be receiving today and for days to come. The anger is not going to go away and the fact that the Conservatives feel they have no one to take Johnson’s place merely adds yet more insults to the very many injuries. Attention Mr Jupp […]
We are at a very dangerous point for our democracy. We are not being shelled, starved and murdered by Russians, but we are being cheated, lied to, gaslighted and exploited by the most corrupt, mendacious and cruel government seen in our lifetime. Johnson is so greedy for power and so utterly contemptuous of truth and […]