Are there any honest Scottish Nationalists?

Are there any honest Scottish Nationalists?

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In 2014, when the last once-in-a-generation Scottish independence referendum was held, the Scottish government under the then First Minister Alex Salmond published what it claimed was a comprehensive plan for how Scotland’s future as an independent nation would play out.  It was, in truth, a rather curious document, a mixture of high constitutional aspiration, a technical document glossing-over most of the difficulties, and a party manifesto, including a fair smattering of comically trivial measures which independence would unlock (“use Scotland’s…

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We need to talk about antivaxxer GOPers

We need to talk about antivaxxer GOPers

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If there’s one group of people that need gelding for their own safety as much as our own are those people who hate lockdown but refuse to get vaccinated or don’t get vaccinated promptly. For some reason they don’t realise vaccine hesitancy is likely to keep us in lockdown for longer. Fortunately for us in The United Kingdom the level of vaccine hesitancy is pretty much restricted to that small number of people who think Laurence Fox is an awesome…

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Ipsos MORI finds for the first time in a year optimists outnumber pessimists

Ipsos MORI finds for the first time in a year optimists outnumber pessimists

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This might explain the current voting intention figures with decent Tory leads, whilst the EU’s vaccine strategy, replete with export bans, has also had an impact, whether this is fleeting or a permanent shift will be interesting. On the subject of Brexit, this latest trend data is notable for the fact that roughly equal numbers of Britons now think the UK’s decision to leave the EU has had a positive impact on the country (39%) as negative (38%).  This represents…

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Is Mark Drakeford the new Winston Churchill?

Is Mark Drakeford the new Winston Churchill?

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Ladbrokes have a fascinating market on the Senedd seat of Cardiff West, looking at the odds above it seems a very easy Labour hold, you’d expect Mark Drakeford, the incumbent First Minister, to hold this seat thanks the excellent rollout of the vaccine he has overseen in Wales which has been seen in the polling. However the most recent poll in Wales by YouGov sees Drakeford losing his seat, which I think that might be more to do with the…

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Light the beacons of Gondor, Gavin Williamson may have just come up with a competent and popular policy

Light the beacons of Gondor, Gavin Williamson may have just come up with a competent and popular policy

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We need to talk about betting on Gavin Williamson in the next Prime Minister & Tory leader markets. Being seen as a professional Frank Spencer tribute act Gavin Williamson’s reputation for ministerial competence is lower than snake testes, so when he announced the very competent and popular policy (as evidenced in the tweets above) then it merits serious discussion because these things are rarer than an actual moment of historical accuracy in the film Braveheart. The last two winners of…

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Tories forever?

Tories forever?

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There used to be such a thing in politics as the pendulum. Rather like its physical counterpart, it appears to have gone out of fashion. In fact, there were two pendulums operating simultaneously, one between general elections and one across them. The intra-election pendulum would traditionally swing away from the government after it was elected, as it created a lot of disruption implementing its reforms and, probably, front-loaded other unpopular decisions it felt it had to take, while it had…

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