It is 11pm on March 21st 2019 as I write this. Press releases from EUCO indicate that an unconditional extension is granted to the UK, rendering my bet on departing the EU on March 29th lost. It may be instructive therefore to examine the bet: its aim, placement, and implications. THE MOTIVE I bet from a variety of motives. There is the desire to know the world and measure myself against it, to commit to a prediction, simple greed, and…
May is (at least at the time of writing) our first populist PM. Whaaaat?!?!? A woman about whom it might be said that far from lighting up a room when she enters it, she trails gloom behind her, a populist? She has no charisma, no wit, no ability to charm or work a crowd, no followers, no chanting fans. She cannot speak – sometimes literally. She asserts, she repeats, she reprimands. She cannot persuade. In what sense then is she…
?BREAKING: A full blown cabinet coup is under way tonight to remove Theresa May as prime minister ? — Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) March 23, 2019 I have spoken to 11 cabinet ministers today who want the prime minister to resign. They will confront her at cabinet on Monday — Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) March 23, 2019 Cabinet coup plotters want to install an interim leader to deliver Brexit. There is good support for David Lidington but others pushing Michael Gove and…
Unless a WA is agreed, they could all be pointless Brexit means Brexit, Theresa May once said. Even at the time, the slogan was widely derided as meaningless and nebulous – though politically, there’s value in something that’s all things to all people. Indeed, Labour is engaging in an almost identical exercise at the moment, where almost nothing is ruled out but very little is explicitly ruled in: everything remains on the table, presumably in the hope that someone else…
Exactly 15 years ago today PB was launched Today PB celebrates it’s 15th birthday, making it, I’d suggest, just about the longest surviving major political blog in the UK. We were up and operational before Guido, Conservative Home, Labour list and many of the other major political sites that we are familiar with today. I cannot recall a site that existed before we did that is still active. When PB was launched on March 23rd 2004 Tony Blair still had…
Has Britain finally reached a decision point? Still the outcome seems in doubt. Many others are writing about what comes next. But how did we get here? Failure is an orphan and no one is taking credit for the current mess. There is plenty of blame to go round though and we can dole out lavish helpings. First of all, we should note that it wasn’t inevitable that there would be a decision point now. No attempt was made by…
The last two elections in Brecon & Radnor where the MP has just pleaded guilty to parliamentary expenses fraud. This was a seat held by the LDs from 1997 to 2015 pic.twitter.com/dwFTWMEDLh — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 22, 2019 It was held by the LDs from GE1997 to GE2015 This morning the MP for Brecon and Radnor, Christopher Davies, pleaded guilty to parliamentary expenses fraud. He awaits sentence. If he receives a custodial sentence of a year or more than…
After a breath-taking week, Keiran Pedley and Leo Barasi sit down and look at the numbers. What do the public think about how Brexit is going, the prospect of no deal and where we go from here? Plus, if a General Election comes, who stands the best chance of winning? Listen to this week’s episode here: Follow this week’s guests Follow @KeiranPedley Follow @LeoBarasi Tweet