Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?

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All around the developed world, political loyalties are breaking down.  Electorates in Britain and the USA have gambled on reckless options in Brexit and Trump.  The hard right is a formidable political force in traditionally prosperous countries such as Sweden and Austria (where they may enter coalition government after the imminent election), and anti-immigrant voters have found their voice in France and Germany.  Secessionists ride high in Scotland and Catalonia.  Centrists find themselves outflanked on the left too, with centre…

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TMay refuses 3 times to say she’d vote for Brexit

TMay refuses 3 times to say she’d vote for Brexit

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Good questioning of TMay by @IainDale getting TMay to refuse 3 times to say she'd vote for Brexit.https://t.co/5DH4ZqO2lb — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) October 10, 2017 If you have not had chance to watch Iain Dale’s interview tonight then it is worth looking at. The beleaguered PM doesn’t do many interviews as long as this one and Iain, a former CON PPC, did not give the PM a easy time. The news part of the session which will be remembered was…

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If it gets to a confidence vote then timings will make it harder for the Whips to defend Theresa

If it gets to a confidence vote then timings will make it harder for the Whips to defend Theresa

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Although the media has moved on she isn’t out of the woods yet No doubt the Number 10 PR team is absolutely delighted that the media has moved on from speculating about TMay’s future as PM but it was a story that dominated the news for five full days. She’s still there and showing resilience. But having been party chair at the time of the last move by CON MPs to oust a leader she’ll be acutely aware of the…

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What I’m hoping to tell the House of Lords next week about the polling fail at the general election

What I’m hoping to tell the House of Lords next week about the polling fail at the general election

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Some thoughts on what I might say A week today I’ll be travelling to Westminster where I have been invited to give evidence before the House of Lords Committee that’s carrying out a review of what went wrong with GE2017 polls. Depending on the questioning by their Lordships I expect to make the point that the campaign had been dominated by the CON landslide narrative that had been reinforced by the May 4th local and mayoral elections where the Tories…

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Is nationalisation really making a comeback? Don Brind doubts it.

Is nationalisation really making a comeback? Don Brind doubts it.

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I’m a bit of a fan of the old Clause Four  of Labour’s constitution drafted by Sidney Webb in 1918. I love that line about securing “for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry”. Pure poetry. And the idea of getting “equitable distribution … upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange,” is a good one. I believe, too, that each industry or service should have “the…

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The real loser in all of this is the Tory reputation for competence

The real loser in all of this is the Tory reputation for competence

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It has long been argued by myself and others that the key characteristic that voters look to when whey make their choice is their desire for competent government. We might not like what a party is proposing but most of all we want politicians who are ready to take unpopular decisions which are right for the country. One of the characteristics which has always been a strength of Tories has been the reputation for providing just this. The Thatcher government…

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Picking up the pieces. Disintegrating Europe

Picking up the pieces. Disintegrating Europe

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EU: Support for Independence, Katapult poll of polls: Veneto: 56%Catalonia: 44%Sardinia: 41%Scotland: 40%Basque: 31%#Catalonia — Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) October 5, 2017 For 160 million years, overlapping substantially with the age of the dinosaurs, the entire landmass of the world was gathered together into a supercontinent called Pangaea.  And for much of the last 30 years, many devotees of the EU have imagined a single supercontinental system of government, as first western Europe and then much of eastern Europe has gloopily…

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