The record crash in the value of sterling is greeted with consternation by importers and retailers who import a high volume of the goods they sell. It is also tricky for supermarkets who import so much of our food and eventually all this will feed through in a rising cost of living. But for manufacturers […]
May did well on Andrew Marr. She was assured and forthright about her ambitions. Of course, like all politicians, on the details she was either opaque or she waffled. The phrases about governing for all the people are the emotional cry of every new Prime Minister since Pitt the Younger. But she did convey the impression […]
The news that the government is dumping the cruel and costly process of re-examine the validity of claims of those with long term conditions, likely to get worse rather than better, is very good news. Once the diagnosis has been confirmed it is just not right to force the most vulnerable to be endlessly re-tested; […]
At the beginning she looked so purposeful and powerful. Not any more. Veteran Tory grandee Ken Clarke has described Theresa May’s regime at Number Ten as ‘a government without policies’ and ‘not having a clue’ over what to do about Brexit. There is mounting anxiety internationally about where GB is trying to go. Nissan has announced postponement of its […]
Regular readers will know that I have little time for the political centre as an end in itself because, without opposites, it ceases to be the centre of anything and becomes sterile of meaning. It is unable to implement whatever plans it has through lack of interest and support. The political conversation detaches from the voters, […]
There is general agreement among pundits, commentators and early polls that Clinton won the first Presidential Debate. The problem for her is that winning the debate no longer offers the key to the White House. That is because this is an election like no other and the pundits have been wrong on every prediction and […]
This blog, lately as readers know quite sympathetic to Labour, vehemently opposes the shadow energy minster’s declaration that it will ban fracking. This is a pitiful example when idealism clashes with ambition to guarantee disappointment on both fronts. Labour calls for a return to socialism with re-industrialization importing jobs back to the UK. A condition of that […]
While everyone’s attention is focused on exciting times in Labour, something it not right with the government. May seemed to get off to a flying start, firing people right left and centre, particularly soft centre, and then showing imagination in appointing a Brexit Trio to take charge of how we actually get out of Europe […]
Civil wars are perhaps the most brutal. They cause humanitarian suffering on a grand scale. They start with an argument and gradually escalate to a fight. In due course the fighting takes on a life of its own with multiple factions and threads, but always with the non-combatant civilians as the victims. In Aleppo now […]
Not only has Jeremy Corbyn won, as widely predicted, but he has broadened his reach, increased the party membership, enhanced his standing and increased his share of the vote to over 60%. As the BBC man said, he is now bomb proof until after the next election. For the Parliamentary Labour Party this is a humiliation […]