March 13th 2017
Till I can’t take it anymore
In the end, Nicola Sturgeon had to call for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Since the Brexit vote, she had been dancing precariously on the head of a pin. The result had snuck up...
March 10th 2017
We’re caught in a trap
There is a paradox at the heart of this week's budget, and in the popular reaction to it. On the one hand, the landmark changes to National Insurance for self-employed people signal the level of...
February 24th 2017
Night Changes
It's a tribute to the uniquely low electoral expectations that Jeremy Corbyn inspires that calls for his resignation today are muted and unconvincing. It is safe to say that any other major party leader who...
January 18th 2017
Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away
It was Theresa May's overwhelming armada of support in the parliamentary Conservative Party that made her Prime Minister. Had her coalition of MPs not been so broad and so deep she may have found herself...
January 11th 2017
If you don’t know me by now…
This week Jeremy Corbyn returned to work after a lengthy (and hopefully restful) Winterval break. As the Labour Leader toured breakfast TV and radio studios, many of his backbenchers were given cause to regret their...
November 24th 2016
Round the Corner Fudge is Made
Yesterday, Philip Hammond delivered what he promised would be the last ever Autumn Statement. This quirk of the British parliamentary year has long caused more problems than it solved. No other Western democracy demands that...
November 9th 2016
Davos is Dead
White, straight, male America has made its voice heard. Decades of being left outside, confused and bemused, by identity politics have made an impression on the very section of US society that ethnic, religious and...
November 4th 2016
Can you hear the drums, Fernando?
Theresa May does not want to hold an early election. This is not because she is 'frit' or because she believes there is a strong chance she may lose such a contest. This is not...
October 17th 2016
There Must be Some Kind of Way Outta Here
Last week, Parliament returned after conference season (rather uncharitably, the Speaker still doesn't extend recess to cover SNP conference) and reality began to bite. It is all very well swanning around Liverpool discussing your "mandate"...
September 30th 2016
Walk like an Egyptian
You don’t know where you are with a Sphinx, that’s sort of the point. With its lion’s haunches, eagle’s wings and human face – the Sphinx compels and confounds. And then, of course, it...
September 23rd 2016
Oh, when the saints go marching in
What is the Labour Party? That is the knotty, genuinely existential question that delegates in Liverpool are forced to ponder this weekend. For many Blairites (though not Blair himself) the answer is straightforward. Labour...
September 20th 2016
The Political Party Conferences 2016
The Labour Party will open their conference in Liverpool on Sunday 25 September, the day after the result of the leadership election has been announced. Jeremy Corbyn is widely expected to win re-election by a...
July 14th 2016
Taking Care of Business
Theresa May has taken to power like the proverbial duck to water - demonstrating a grip on her party and on her agenda that has surprised many of her colleagues. It is important to...
July 11th 2016
She Stoops to Conquer
Theresa May's confident ascent to Britain's highest political office has sometimes seemed unstoppable these last few days. Indeed, as Andrea Leadsom quit the race - after a disastrous and rancorous weekend - she and her...
June 28th 2016
Memo from Brussels: Article 50
Parting is such sweet sorrow, said Juliet to Romeo in Shakespeare’s eponymous play. But they were in love – the same cannot be said for the EU and the UK, whose fractious relationship could...