What a difference a year makes

What a difference a year makes

If Sunak cannot lead Starmer on the economy then what exactly is Sunak good for? In Sunak’s defence this is the result of the excrement of the Truss/Kwarteng fiscal event hitting the fan on his watch. You really cannot mess around with people’s houses but as Alastair Meeks has noted Sunak’s attempt to polish a turd ain’t working. TSE

A land of many (black) waters

A land of many (black) waters

Picture: Thatched roofed houses in Guyana, credit Wikimedia Commons Guyana is a tiny South American country, perched on the Atlantic coast, with Venezuela to the northwest, Brazil to the south and west, and Suriname to the east. It has a population of just 800,000, and a GDP per capita of around $10,000 US.   Why is this insignificant little crumb on the world map worthy of interest? Because current events around Guyana may have larger geopolitical consequences, and could potentially…

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Low expectations

Low expectations

Perhaps the inquiry will surprise on the upside like the Chilcot inquiry? I do expect the next general election to see Covid-19 and revelations from the inquiry so far to feature heavily. TSE

Brexit behaving badly

Brexit behaving badly

Brexit isn’t going well in the eyes of the public, what I particularly like about this YouGov polling is that when they ask the public about rejoining the single market they add the important rider about free movement. With free movement dominating the campaign it is interesting the public are happy to undo that key element of the Brexit campaign and deal. What really stands out as well is this ‘Leave voters who currently intend to vote Labour would also…

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What did Parliament do?

What did Parliament do?

It was not the Commission which changed the law allowing the Post Office to prosecute subpostmasters on the basis of flawed unreliable evidence. But MPs. Parliamentary scrutiny should mean something, shouldn’t it? Let’s see what it actually meant here. How did MPs discharge their function? Many are lawyers. One of the much touted benefits is meant to be that they can properly scrutinise such legislation and understand its implications. MPs also get expenses to pay for researchers.  Did they ask…

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How was this sausage made?

How was this sausage made?

What was the one development without which the Post Office scandal could not have happened? In a bitter irony, tinkering with a law enacted following a serious miscarriage of justice – the Confait case – the Inquiry report (yes, another one!) is here) enabled what is now the worst miscarriage of justice in English history. The law is the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (“PACE”); the tinkering is to S.69 – its removal and replacement by – well, nothing. …

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It’s Acropolis Now for Rishi Sunak

It’s Acropolis Now for Rishi Sunak

Causing a ruckus over the Elgin Marbles with Greece is not going to shift many votes, Rishi, go big or go Homer, I can only assume Sunak was on the Zeus when he came up with this ploy, he must have lost his marbles, even most Tories and Leavers want the marbles returned to Greece. The sad thing how obvious Sunak’s ploy is, there’s going to be Hellas to pay. My Apollo-gies for the cheesy puns. TSE

It’s not the economy, stupid?

It’s not the economy, stupid?

It must be the free market Thatcherite in me speaking but we must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the destruction of our economy, it is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre. Part of me thinks this polling is a bit like the polling that shows the public happy to pay extra taxes to fund schools and hospitals but seldom voting for a party that actually proposes such a…

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