A personal note from Mike Smithson

A personal note from Mike Smithson

PBers will notice that I have not been active recently. Just over a fortnight ago I had a fall which is not a very good thing for someone approaching their 78th birthday. I was in Hospital for several nights (it seemed like an eternity) and hopefully will make a recovery. Next year offers so much in the political betting arena with the high chance of a UK General Election and of course in November the White House Race. I really…

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Deflating Rishi Sunak, again

Deflating Rishi Sunak, again

Despite inflating being above the target Rishi Sunak has presented the recent falls in inflation as a success unfortunately it appears the public will not give him any credit. This I suspect fits in a wider issue that is plaguing Sunak, he grates with the public, taking credit it for successes that he really doesn’t deserve, he blamed inflation on world events such as Ukraine, he only wants to take credit it for the good things and nothing for the…

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Khomeini days have the ayatollahs left ?

Khomeini days have the ayatollahs left ?

I remember the overthrow of the Shah quite vividly. Television coverage of young radicals with guns out on the street demanding the end of corruption, a more open society and a better distribution of wealth. The Shah fled and Ayatollah Khomeini flew into a tumultuous welcome. Then the state clammed up and the revolution ate its children. For over forty years now Iran has presented an austere face to the outside world, a theocratic monolith prepared to face off to…

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Now is the time for nuance and subtlety

Now is the time for nuance and subtlety

As the grandson of humble immigrants from Pakistan I am fascinated by polling like this. I often say that the UK is not a racist country, there’s so many examples of it not being, primus inter pares being that Scotland, London, and the UK are led by people whose antecedents came from the same place as my grandparents did. This doesn’t mean racism doesn’t exist in the UK but there’s much more positives than negatives. Some of the findings in…

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Rwandan discussions

Rwandan discussions

In response to our independent judiciary it appears Sunak is going to scweam and scweam and ignore them but I don’t think he’ll get much of a polling boost judging by these poll findings. The only popular thing he’s done recently is fire Suella Braverman. As an aside, I am surprised that Arsenal fans Sir Keir Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn haven’t kicked off about their team ‘s shirt sponsor being ‘Visit Rwanda’. They should remember Arsenal fans with political ambitions…

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What are Ministers for?

What are Ministers for?

A key issue in the Post Office (“PO”) scandal is what the government, was doing – or not – while it happened. It is not within the inquiry’s scope, that being written by politicians and civil servants whose behaviour, or that of their predecessors, would otherwise be uncomfortably scrutinised. Let’s look anyway. The self-image of publicly owned entities is exemplified by the National Coal Board. Miners proudly held signs saying collieries were now managed ‘On Behalf Of The People‘. Alas,…

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