The Government is in chaos. Keir Starmer hangs by a thread. A General Election is imminent as the administration approaches collapse. If you spend too long online, or read certain newspapers, that is the story. From bot accounts to Daily Mail columnists hyperventilating into their keyboards, the narrative is constant: crisis, scandal, imminent implosion. And … Read more
Labour and Grooming Gangs : Why Some Politicians Want It All Kicked into the Long Grass Last month, the Government agreed to hold a new national inquiry into grooming gangs. Like the Government, I was initially sceptical. The Jay Inquiry already spent seven years investigating historic child sexual exploitation, producing a raft of recommendations that … Read more
The drama in the Commons on Tuesday and Wednesday — as the government scrambled to push through a controversial welfare reform bill — looked like a major crisis. Even with a large majority, Labour struggled to control the narrative. In truth, this kind of backbench revolt is nothing new. Blair faced dozens of them and … Read more
This week, the government launched its long-awaited 10-year plan for the NHS. At 165 pages, it’s a dense, managerial, and thoroughly technocratic document—very on brand for a government that wants to appear serious and reformist, while hoping most people won’t read past the executive summary. There are three main themes: It’s a top-down, big-state programme … Read more
Keir Starmer is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership over plans to reform the welfare state. Almost a third of Labour MPs have signed an amendment by Meg Hillier aimed at derailing Liz Kendall’s flagship bill, which is due for debate in Parliament next week. The Government will be working over the weekend to … Read more
Nations depend on rules – fair rules.Sometimes they’re written down, often they’re not, but either way, they give shape to our values.They guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to one another.Now, in a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more … Read more
Why the Hate Towards Labour? Now the dust has settled on the local elections, the results weren’t exactly a shock. The Conservatives took a predictable beating—squeezed by the Liberal Democrats in the South and by Reform UK everywhere else. Reform are now well-positioned to take over the right of British politics. They’re peeling off Tory … 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
One of the lesser known parts of a UK General Election are the meetings between the main opposition party and the civil service. In the months approaching a potential change in Government the main opposition party presents it’s programme for government to the civil service. Sometimes, like 1997, this is a detailed programme … Read more