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
There have been some noisy headlines about chaos in councils where Reform won seats last month: resignations, council meetings in disarray, councillors disappearing on holiday en masse. Durham became a Reform-controlled council last year, and I finally managed to catch some Reform councillors in action. I had spent months trying to speak to, photograph or … Read more
Another summer and, once again, another riot. By now the pattern is becoming familiar. A tragedy occurs involving a white victim and a non-white perpetrator. The victim’s family appeals for calm and asks that their loss should not be used to fuel racial hatred. The appeal is ignored. “We want to use Henry’s heartbreaking story … 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
I have finally given up on BT. Not just personally, but professionally as well. My business is moving away from them, and after the last few weeks I genuinely cannot understand why anybody voluntarily stays with them unless inertia, exhaustion or fear of changing provider finally overwhelms the instinct for self-preservation. The final straw was … Read more
Why People Get History So Wrong “History is the biography of great men,” once said a very famous idiot. It’s a terrible way to understand the past — academically, intellectually, and frankly, morally — and yet people still believe it. Loudly. You can see it in the endless culture war skirmishes over symbols. The recent … Read more
Are Parts of Britain Under Sharia Law? The easy answer is: no. So if no part of the UK is under Sharia law, why are people so angry about it? To understand that, you need to start with how the British legal system actually works — which is already more complicated, and more unusual, than … 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
Once upon a time, defining the far right was easy. Britain had fringe parties like the BNP and the National Front. Mainstream politicians kept their distance. Their ideas were toxic, and everyone knew it. That boundary has now broken down. The far right has been partially absorbed into mainstream politics. Just as Jeremy Corbyn opened … Read more