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
I grew up in close-knit former mining villages in East Durham—places not unlike Seaham, a town I know well. For years, I was a regular at the Seaham Food Festival, which takes place again this weekend. Where I’m from, solidarity mattered. People stuck together and looked out for each other. These were the kinds of … Read more
With a couple of days to digest we can start and see some trends emerging from the rubble of the Conservative Party Labour were expected to win a landslide with 40%+ of the vote. In the end they won a landslide with a much lower vote share, with other parties also doing incredibly well. … Read more
There seems little point in reviewing all of the manifestos as most people by now have made up their minds. Instead I want to address a question I heard a few times. “Labour and Tory are they both the same”? Instinctively the answer is no.. Politics has become incredibly polarised and the gap between Labour … Read more
A small wet man has called a General Election, and lots of people are looking forward to multiple Portillo moments. For those too young to remember the 1997 General Election Michael Portillo was an unpopular cabinet minister who lost his seat to a young Labour candidate. It came to symbolise the crushing defeat the Tories … Read more
This week Rachel Reeves delivered the Mais lecture, setting out Labour’s economic policy. For those who don’t follow such things the Mais lecture takes place at the Bayes business school in London, and for a future Chancellor of the Exchequer this is a big thing. This is where Nigel Lawson explained Thatcherism, Gordon Brown … Read more
