March 29th 2019
Into The Woods
Parliamentarians were today held hostage in the Commons on a day when they had planned to be in their constituencies, talking to their constituents. Of course, for some MPs this is a blessing. Their constituents...
March 15th 2019
The White Cliffs of Dover
Remember when ‘no deal was better than a bad deal’? Or, briefly, when ‘my deal is better than no deal’? Well, now, it’s ‘my deal is better than another year of talking about all this...
February 18th 2019
Seven Nation Army
It is not easy to leave a political party, least of all when you are an elected representative of that party. For a start, if you are an MP, you have given a great deal...
January 30th 2019
Nothing
Yesterday was - optically, at least - the best day the Prime Minister has had in ages. In years, in fact. For the first time since the 2017 General Election Theresa May got her...
January 10th 2019
So What Happens Now?
Another day, another knock. But Mrs May plows on. Thanks to Yvette Cooper she has been defeated on a Finance Bill (the first PM to lose such a vote in forty years) and thanks to...
January 7th 2019
Slow Train Coming
The ‘trolley dilemma’ is one of philosophy’s most enduring and famous thought-experiments. You will have heard of it. A train is careering down the tracks towards a group of children and the brakes are not...
December 13th 2018
You Keep Me Hangin' On
The first rule of politics is to learn how to count. So said the ultimate politicians’ politician President Johnson. And he was right, of course. Politics is a bit about ideas and a lot...
November 16th 2018
Gimme Shelter
It is very rare - particularly at the moment - that the House of Commons makes for must-watch TV. The weekly theatre of Prime Minister’s Questions has become, thanks to the pedestrian performances of...
November 14th 2018
Dice Roll
They say there are only really seven types of narrative, only a limited number of stories to be told. Voyage and return, rags to riches, tragedy and rebirth etc. Theresa May is a quester...
October 29th 2018
When the deal goes down
What - actually - is austerity? Or maybe, what was austerity? That is the question upon which the political success of this budget will hinge. The Prime Minister has promised us, after all, that ‘Austerity...
October 1st 2018
Tell Me Lies
Hands up who wants to live in SuperCanada? It is just like Canada but it has bridges to everywhere and really cheap, chlorinated chicken for all. No? Ok, how about Singapore-Upon-Thames? Or Switzerland-by-Sea? Or...
September 24th 2018
We’re Not in Kansas
The Wizard of Oz was - before its salvation via Judy Garland - a popular but cranky extended allegory for a niche conspiracy theory. L. Frank Baum - the creator of Oz and of...
September 17th 2018
This Charming Man
Aung San Suu Kyi has a Nobel Peace Prize. Morrissey created a hymnal to the sorrows of working class difference. Harvey Weinstein has quite a few Oscar winners to his name. It is possible...
September 3rd 2018
Bomb First (My Second Reply)
Is this how it will be forever? Week in, week out. Like films in the Saw horror franchise or the Changing of the Guard? Boris Johnson - former London Mayor, former Foreign Secretary, former...
July 18th 2018
Sugar, We're Going Down
The phenomenon of dynamic equilibrium is one that we are all familiar with even though we may not think about it much. When you add sugar to a glass of water the sugar dissolves. All...