We all know what GPs used to look like. Mostly men with beards, they made house calls, wore tweed jackets and carried their patient notes around in battered Lloyd George envelopes. Those days have largely disappeared. Home visits are now rare, many practices no longer have a single full-time partner, and patients are often more … Read more
I am not a big fan of Andy Burnham. That might seem a strange thing to say given that I am a member of Mainstream, the pro-Burnham group within Labour. Burnham is an astute politician. His municipal socialism is not far from my own instincts and, unlike many politicians, he has experience of life outside … Read more
The number of people crossing the Channel in small boats fell again in May. In May 2025, 3,738 people crossed the Channel in small boats. In May 2026, that figure was 2,713 — a reduction of 1,025 people. More importantly, this is not a one-off. Crossings have now fallen in eight of the last ten … Read more
The short answer to this question is no, don’t be daft. Reform are the party of the elite, the leadership dominated by public schoolboys and inherited wealth. They have inherited many of the establishment networks of power, money and influence which sustained the Conservatives for over a century. So why do I hear this so … Read more
Clearly this was a big night for Reform, a bad night for Labour, and a mixed night for everyone else. Labour lost seats to the Greens, to a lesser extent Reform, and to Plaid Cymru and the SNP. The Conservatives lost seats heavily to Reform. But for the Government to lose seats at this point … Read more
Over the last few weeks I’ve been travelling up and down the East Coast, visiting places that already have Reform MPs, and places they are targeting in the upcoming local elections. You can find the other pieces below. I’ve saved the most interesting for last: Sunderland. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a Sunderland … Read more
By-elections are supposed to be strange. Low turnout, odd swings, protest votes. But every so often they tell you something real about the direction of travel. This one did. Start with the Greens. On the face of it, good news. They can clearly mobilise a vote and, in the right conditions, win. But their real … Read more
The Battle Over Indefinite Leave to Remain: Labour, Conservatives, and Reform Compared Labour, the Conservatives, and Reform UK have all announced plans to tighten the rules around Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). On the surface, they’re united by a single goal — reducing net migration. But dig deeper, and the differences are huge. What Is … Read more
Immigration in Britain has become one of the defining political issues of the last decade. From Brexit to the rise of Reform UK, arguments over net migration shape headlines and elections alike. This survey is your chance to cut through the noise and share your own view on what immigration means for Britain today. Loading…
Corbyn and Musk Have New Parties “The first thing that must strike any outside observer is that Socialism, in its developed form, is a theory confined entirely to the middle classes. The typical Socialist is not, as tremulous old ladies imagine, a ferocious-looking working man with greasy overalls and a raucous voice. He is either … Read more