Category: Politics

Local leaders in a land of make-believe: the latest in the BCP saga!

Adam Sofianos

Picture this scene. An embattled Conservative leader sees the failure of their headline economic policy. As the plan collapses, critics surround them from every side – even their own. With the economy plummeting, the leader needs others to bail them out financially. And then, at the moment of greatest humiliation, with public finances and services […]

What not to dare

Andrew Levi

The terrifying, chaotic incompetence of the last ten days in the UK is characteristic of a failing state, says Andrew Levi – a veteran of numerous hair-raising disintegrations of order around the world – in a long read. Feeling able to pretend we’re immune from such disaster is a luxury only available because, imperfect though […]

Just a few days in Tory… Eyes on the lies, everyone!

Russ In Cheshire

Russ Jones has done it again. Expect updates! 1. Our new PM, Margarine Thatcher, said she was “absolutely committed” to cutting tax for the rich 2. Then she cancelled tax cuts the rich 3. Truss boasted she was prepared to make unpopular decisions 4. But her decisions were unpopular, so she cancelled them 5. Truss […]

The ‘mini-budget’: conspiracy or ‘cock-up’?

Alan Stedman

I am a retiree in my sixties, having spent most of my career as a senior NHS manager and CEO. Politically, I am in the centre ground and have never been a member of a political party. I was a committed European and, as such, the 2016 Referendum result, and the way the vote was […]

True Tories were Remainers

Jon Danzig

A reminder for the Conservatives annual conference – share 4-minute video: 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦 Conservatives, have you forgotten what your party in power used to stand for regarding Europe? For most of the past seven decades, Tory governments did more than any other to bring us closer to our continent. After all:  It’s because of the Conservatives […]

The week in Tory…

Russ In Cheshire

Second #TheWeekInTory in 4 days cos … oh god, you know why! 1. KamiKwarzi Kwarteng supports crypto so much, he’s turned Sterling into a new one called Shitcoin. 2. He fulfilled his promise to wipe out Stamp Duty by making it impossible for anyone to get a mortgage anyway. 3. These exuberantly stupid inanities had […]

Are we nearing the ‘darkest before dawn’ moment?

Editor-in-chief

You can expect to see a fair few articles from us on the latest incarnation of the Blukip/ERG Conservative government, each one seemingly more crazy and disastrous than the last. Currency traders are referring to Truss as “Daggers” : as in Dagenham, two stops past Barking… Funny, but not funny. Not funny at all. We […]

A budget that says the quiet part out loud

Mark E Thomas

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 the worst prime minister? He will be eclipsed by Truss

Mark E Thomas

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 […]

What country are we?

Alexandra Hall Hall

Our thanks to Alexandra Hall Hall, former diplomat and ambassador, for her kind permission to reproduce this thought-provoking piece. Ed Many will know I’ve been going through a slowly unrolling identity crisis, as I try to grapple with the UK I thought I knew, and the UK I’m beginning to see with fresh eyes. The […]

Johnson was a disaster. Truss has set out to be worse

Richard Murphy

Yesterday [6 September 2022] was bad. It was, in fact, very, very bad. If Johnson was a disaster, Truss has set out to be worse. Richard Murphy very much doubts that any prime minister has set out to create so many conflicts from the outset of their premiership in the way that Truss has. The […]

The 101 damnations: Johnson’s ‘principles’ of government

Richard Haviland

To mark the final day in office of a unique prime minister, here are my definitive, expanded, 101 Johnson principles of government. 1 Accept responsibility for nothing. 2 Blame others for things that are your fault. 3 Take credit for things that aren’t your doing. 4 Preach unity and sow division. 5 Always speak with […]

‘I want my country back’ – National March for Rejoin September 10

Peter Benson

A retired school teacher living in Lostwithiel has been selected to read her poem “I want my country back “at a major rally in Parliament Square on Saturday 10 September. Nicola Tipton, a retired drama teacher, has been asked to read out her poem in front of thousands at the first national Rejoin the EU Rally. […]

The cabinet of horrors

Russ In Cheshire

Assuming Tim Shipman’s tweet is true, let’s do a quick #TheWeekInTory style tour of our (probably) new cabinet. It is a thrilling prospect. Liz Truss Margarine Thatcher. Gilead Commander’s wife who did three U-turns during her campaign, making Liz Truss a more effective opponent of Liz Truss than Rishi Sunak was. Is her own worst […]

Don’t cry for me, sweet Britannia

Sadie Parker

Here’s a tribute with a difference to our outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson. Well, I say tribute… a review, at least. Hum the tune of “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” as you read. The lyrics have been modified to reflect Boris Johnson’s “achievements” as Britain’s worst prime minister since World War II (according to a […]

Total blackout

Andrew Levi

Britain’s imminent energy Armageddon, and how to avoid it: in a long read, Andrew Levi warns that the scale and nature of the crisis is still widely misunderstood, and the measures needed to address it woefully underdeveloped. Brexit, a unique act of self-harm, worsens the UK’s situation. Without great good luck, only radical immediate action […]

Truss or Sunak? What the farmers think

Editor-in-chief

We rarely publish unsolicited press releases but this is an important insight into the challenges farmers face. Truss or Sunak? When it comes to food, farming and the environment –what should be the top policy priority for the next PM? The race to become the UK’s next Prime Minister is almost over. As the two […]

Boris Johnson – not Churchill, but Farquaad

Tom Scott

The last, dark days of his premiership have shown that Johnson has only one care in the world: to salvage his own reputation, argues Tom Scott. When Boris Johnson insisted that he would stay on as a ‘caretaker’ prime minister, despite having lost the confidence of his own MPs, there were many who were sceptical […]

That Maitlis speech: truth and facts need no rebuttal

Richard Murphy

What Emily Maitlis seemed to me to be saying in her Edinburgh lecture was that there are truths that need to be told that can be stated as facts without requiring rebuttal. A short thread to discuss this….. There is, for example, a phenomenon called climate change. No broadcaster need balance that opinion with the […]

“Ordure, ordure!”

Mr Rushforth

Look, it has to be said, Mr. Rushforth is sorry about your poke bowl or whatever it is you have instead of a decent breakfast, but ever since word got out that a majority of Tory MPs, including our Prime (pork and cheese) Minister-in-waiting, Liz Truss, voted against amending a bill to stop water companies […]

The road to British serfdom

Andrew Levi

A group committed to a crude, self-serving, brutal worldview, derived from the writings of 20th-century neoliberals, controls the cabinet and will likely continue to, says Andrew Levi. Its members are determined to transform Britain radically. They want a Hayek Brexit: a constitutional hijack. A road paved with bad intentions What are Charter Cities? And are […]

Flash to bang time

Eric Gates

The ‘flash to bang time’ is one of those useful pieces of military shorthand that derives from the delay between the muzzle flash as a piece of artillery fires, and the bang as the shell arrives. From there, it has become an expression used to describe the delay between starting an activity and bringing it […]

Impossible things

Mr Rushforth

The reserved Mr Rushforth is not the kind of person to blazon such things abroad, but his index finger is worn down to a stub and he is otherwise entirely used up and depleted, for he has been doing Liz Truss all week long. Mindful of her incipient pre-eminence to World Leader (as selflessly appointed […]