Strike!!! Britain is on strike. A massive strike to bring the government to its knees and force a general election. At least, that’s the claim. This isn’t just people refusing to work for a week. The strike also involves not shopping, not going to the pub, not doing… anything. Total withdrawal from society. You didn’t… Read More Inside the Weird World of the Online Right
I was in Barcelona last weekend. One of the world’s best cities. It also happened to be the opening weekend of Melania, the new documentary about Melania Trump, and the promotion was impossible to miss. A massive billboard dominated Plaça de Catalunya. Every bus stop seemed to have her face on it. Amazon money, very… Read More Melania, or: How to Make a Hit Movie No One Can See
Trump is bonkers Donald Trump’s speech to the World Economic Forum at Davos was a rambling, incoherent mess. His letter to the Prime Minister of Norway was equally unhinged, blaming Norway’s failure to award him the Nobel Peace Prize for the crisis over Greenland. He appears not to understand the difference between Norway and Denmark… Read More Why Trump Is Breaking the World
The online right are currently having a meltdown over the Fabian Society. For those unfamiliar with them, the Fabians are a middle-class intellectual group historically linked to the Labour Party. They were founded in the late nineteenth century by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, with figures such as George Bernard Shaw among their most prominent members.… Read More Fabian Fantasies | How the on-line right lost their marbles
The biggest political story of the weekend wasn’t the soap opera around Andy Burnham. It was the death of the Conservative Party. For those who missed it, there has been a furious online row among the British right over the Government’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands. In the real world this is not… Read More The Chagos Row and the End of British Conservatism
This is controversial and will remind some people why they hate blogs. But it’s been nagging at me for months, so I’m saying it anyway. For the past few months I’ve seen a lot of right-wing content circulating online about cousin marriage in the UK — specifically whether it should be banned. Leaving aside the… Read More Cousin marriage, genetics and uncomfortable truths
Are UK House Prices Really Falling? Testing the Claims Over the last few months I have been talking about a potential fall in house prices. The logic behind this is simple – quantatitive easing and cheap money boosted the supply of funds to buy houses, while the Government restricted new house building. Both of these… Read More Are UK House Prices Really Falling? Testing the Claims
Oil, Renewables and the Slow Unravelling of Petro‑States With Venezuela back in the headlines, another oil state is once again under pressure for regime change. This time the focus is Iran. Iran has faced mass protests against its authoritarian regime before, but the current moment feels more brittle. The country is not only grappling with… Read More Iran, Oil States and Instability
On the morning of January 3, U.S. forces struck Caracas, seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and flew them out of the country. Once again, the United States has undertaken a military operation that was efficiently executed in pursuit of an uncertain political objective. A dramatic first step has been taken, while the… Read More Venezuela, Trump, and the End of the Beginning