Are ordinary Brits disadvantaged in the labour market because of immigration? I realise that most of my liberal graduate friends will automatically reject such an idea, in particular because there is an unstated assumption in the question that the ordinary Brits being hard done by are white, and the immigrants being given preferential treatment aren’t. … Read more
Closer than people think, but not really that close at all. I have changed my mind, and I think Reform and Green might win a seat. The Greens possibly more than one; Bristol Central is 50/50 but Waveney Valley and North Herts look like they might be closer to a Green victory than people suspect, … 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
No. Labour aren’t going to privatise the NHS. I have seen multiple claims on social media that Labour will expand privatisation of the NHS if elected. Mostly these claims come from the Green Party, or from the anti-Labour left. The leader of the Greens made the same claim in the debate last night. This makes … 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
Conservatives are in deep trouble. The British Conservatives were wiped out in the latest local elections, and face a similar fate in at the coming General Election. In the US the entire conservative movement is a hostage to the fortunes of Donald Trump, slumped in a court room hearing his most sordid actions read … Read more
In amongst all of the elections going on the North East is electing 2 new Mayors in May. On Teesside Ben “Porkbarrel” Houchen, the Conservative incumbent has a fight on with Labour’s Chris “honest and sensible” McKewan. No guessing how I would be voting for, if I still lived down there. The rest of the … Read more
Britain never really loved the EU. We didn’t join the Common Market because we loved Europe or bought into a pan European vision, We signed up because we were in the doledrums as a nation. We had lost an Empire, and not really worked out a role in the world. The excitement of the 60s … 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
The latest scandal in British politics is the long running tragedy of sub-postmasters. Over the decades the scandal has gone on the number of post offices in the UK has more than halved from 22,500 under Thatcher to around 11,500 now. 99% of all UK post offices are operated by franchise partners or … Read more