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Teams from Remain areas once again dominated the Premiership and it will be even more the case next season

Teams from Remain areas once again dominated the Premiership and it will be even more the case next season

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Yet again sides from Leave areas get relegated The 2017/2018 English Premier League season came to an end yesterday and the above chart shows the final rankings linked to the Brexit referendum Remain shares. As can be seen the top half of the table is almost totally made up of sides from places where there was a high Remain vote while the bottom is dominated by team where Leave did best. With three Leave area sides being relegated to be…

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The Palace is laying the groundwork for a Regency

The Palace is laying the groundwork for a Regency

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The Queen won’t abdicate but she might still retire The beauty of the Commonwealth lies in its pointlessness. Far from being a hindrance, the fact that it doesn’t have a purpose is a feature, not a bug. No-one is being swept along by ‘the Project’ and rarely does anyone expect anything from the two-yearly get-togethers – and that lack of clear agenda, combined with an informal atmosphere with leaders parted from advisors and officials, is what can create the space…

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Into the political void opened between Brexit Tories and Corbynite Labour there came … no-one

Into the political void opened between Brexit Tories and Corbynite Labour there came … no-one

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What’s happened to the Others? “Go back to your constituencies and prepare for government!” David Steel’s rather premature exhortation to his activists at the 1981 Liberal Conference is remembered – to the extent that it’s remembered at all – as a classic example of over-optimism verging into hubris. It shouldn’t be. For a brief moment, there really was a genuine chance that the old Lab-Con dominance had been broken. At the last poll before the conference, the SDP-Liberal Alliance had…

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A message to political leaders – Remember, you are mortal.

A message to political leaders – Remember, you are mortal.

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Curiously, the reasons why some political leaders fall from office is linked to what was once their strengths rather than their weaknesses. Callaghan’s closeness to the unions was seen as one reason why he (rather than the confrontational Heath or strident Castle) would be better able to reach a workable accommodation with them, to the country’s benefit. Having undermined the “In Place of Strife” proposals it was poetic justice that it was the unions’ behaviour which destroyed his (and Labour’s)…

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MPs’ proxy voting can and should go further

MPs’ proxy voting can and should go further

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Catering for extended absences would mean fewer by-elections though Parliament took another small step towards the 21st Century last month, when it voted without opposition to allow MPs who are new parents to nominate a colleague to cast proxy votes on their behalf, meaning that they can more meaningfully take maternity or paternity leave without having to worry too much about the effect that doing so would have on the government’s majority. Some might argue that MPs occupy an unusual…

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Given the appalling weather let’s be thankful that yesterday wasn’t a general election or a referendum

Given the appalling weather let’s be thankful that yesterday wasn’t a general election or a referendum

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There were 4 by-election taking place local councils yesterday and the results should make interesting reading because these happened on the worst Thursday for the weather across the country in decades. Who would have thought, for instance, that one of the biggest Premier League matches of the season, Arsenal vs Manchester City, would take place in what appeared to be a half empty Stadium. A lot of people with tickets, and they are not cheap at the Emirates, simply didn’t…

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Alastair Meeks gives his thoughts on university pensions

Alastair Meeks gives his thoughts on university pensions

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My first boss was the source of many wise words, some of which I use to this day. “Alastair”, she would often say, “there is no problem in the world that cannot be made to go away with money”. It’s not strictly true, of course, but it is truer more often than is usually appreciated. That was 25 years ago, at a time when pension schemes almost all had surpluses and the question I was most commonly asked was what…

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The big one: Cyclefree announces her Political Awards for 2017

The big one: Cyclefree announces her Political Awards for 2017

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The “Did Somebody Really Budget for This?” Award It is perhaps inevitable in a country with a government which thinks that the colour of its passport matters that the British Army should have spent money on trying to change its “Be the Best” motto. To what, one wonders? “Be Mediocre”, perhaps or “Best at Being Third-Rate”, maybe. Still, a workforce can only be regarded as sufficiently diverse if a significant proportion is unsuitable for the job. So, despite the Defence…

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