Scötterdämmerung. The Twilight of the Union?

Scötterdämmerung. The Twilight of the Union?

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If you’re a (Scottish) Unionist then it isn’t looking good, the tweets above indicate the worrying issues facing the Union right now. There’s some scope for hope, from this observer’s view it appears that debate is being framed as Scotland v. The Tories/Boris Johnson, with Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems absent from the debate. Once those parties join the debate we might see the arguments change. However relying on a party led by Richard Leonard to be the Gebhard…

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CON lead down to 2% while Starmer is now 4% ahead of Johnson as “Best PM” in latest YouGov

CON lead down to 2% while Starmer is now 4% ahead of Johnson as “Best PM” in latest YouGov

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Counting the cost of the A-level debacle The latest YouGov Times poll just published has the Tories in their worst position in any survey since GE2019 with Starmer now beating Johnson as “Best PM” by 35% to 31%. All this comes of course after the dreadful week that the Government has been having over the exam grades when the EdSec had to abandon his initial plan and leave everything to be based on teacher projections. The best PM figures in…

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Lamenting Dido*

Lamenting Dido*

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Since 2006 there have been, on and off, 7 anti-corruption champions, many of them well-known former Ministers in the twilight of their careers (Straw, Clarke, Pickles). It’s not clear what they have actually done or are meant to do, beyond fine words. Some clarity has since been provided here. The focus is on supporting the government’s international strategy – teaching others how to be as incorruptible as Britain – and reviewing what departments and agencies are doing here. It is…

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Another day and another set of front pages featuring the beleaguered EdSec Gavin Williamson

Another day and another set of front pages featuring the beleaguered EdSec Gavin Williamson

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Will there be a safe return to schools next month? Maybe it is because it is the middle of August and there’s not a lot of other political news about but EdSec Williamson continues to struggle to get off the front pages. My Tweet above has a selection of six of them this morning. He might have the backing of Boris but there’s another big development tomorrow with the latest English exam “results” that aren’t because of the emergency action…

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Wedged: the looming problem for Boris Johnson

Wedged: the looming problem for Boris Johnson

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Boris Johnson’s government may be pretty incompetent at most things but you can’t fault its ability to sniff out a topic to rally its base to its side. The number of undocumented migrants crossing the English Channel does not begin to fill the gaps left by all those people who needlessly died with Covid-19 owing to the government’s negligence, but the government gleefully seized on a fresh opportunity to whip up its parochial white English nationalist base against those of duskier…

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The tabloids after the Williamson’s exam u-turn

The tabloids after the Williamson’s exam u-turn

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It was only to be expected that the tabloids would have a field day following the EdSec’s U-turn on the A-level results and they have not disappointed. The Star comes out with the most creative following a series of powerful front pages since lockdown came in. But it will be the Mail that should some worry Williamson because it is much more influential politically. What is amazing is that dealing with the exam outcome has been an issue that was…

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