UK Politics

  • The politics of sympathy is waning

    There’s only so long a complaint can be made until it’s not the issue anymore. There are deeper realities at work that take precedence over momentary concerns. A crisis cannot last a lifetime in politics either. It’s been a while since many of the earlier issues the Left hacked away at slipped out of view.

    This is the troubling fact many on the liberal side of politics now face. They can’t shout for much longer. They can’t expect a hearing forever. It’s got to be government that does it. The crowd has to return home. The lifeblood of much else is lost otherwise.

    However, the determination of those on the anti-State side is a hard nut to crack. Their vigour is misinformed and it makes it difficult to negotiate. Their methods are routes of attacks and so compromise is futile. If people think life and death happens overnight there isn’t much room for a middle ground.

  • Starmer has a new front at the top

    The exit of Angela Rayner MP (Ashton-under-Lyne/Labour) has led to a huge upheaval at the top table by the Prime Minister. He’s made some key changes to his top team.

    His new Deputy is David Lammy MP (Tottenham/Labour), also Justice Secretary. This brings closer another heavyweight as he navigates a difficult Parliament.

    Yvette Cooper MP (Pontefract, Castleford, and Knottingley/Labour) is now Foreign Secretary. It’s not immediately obvious why, considering her previous brief as Home Secretary.

    Shabana Mahmood MP (Birmingham Ladywood/Labour) is now Home Secretary, taking over the Home Office during the Dover Crossings crisis. This is a short straw for her.

  • Dorries defects to Reform

    Nadine Dorries, a former Conservative MP, says she’s defected to Reform UK. It’s a move that further strengths the top tier of the party.

    It may help to bolster the chances of the upstart in a future general election. The evidence so far is the party benefits by such support.

  • The Green Party is out of focus

    The Green Party is a renegade feature in UK politics. It strikes out to represent green issues without apology. It campaigns hard even without the limelight.

    Its lack of prominence means that new things like GB Energy – a Government-owned sponsor of renewables – don’t hit home as a specific win for its way of politics. The truth is, however, green is still on the agenda. It must be to the credit of this party.

    The problems scale out from there. The lack of direction – or focus – in the green movement in the UK is telling in a plethora of names and eccentric events that don’t bite as hard as some hope.

    The slogans, signage, and statements of the mainstream must feel like a whitewash. It’s must look like a denial of the truth. However, their truth needs to come across as more than a feeling and much more like a purpose.

    The success of Mothin Ali, for example, joining Rachel Millward as Deputy Leader of the Green Party yesterday, shows that progress is being made. Ali is an avid gardener and political activist, making links using his local roots.

    This makes sense because it shows what green politics can be locally when so much of the national debate is narrative of back and forth accusation.

  • New Green Party leader elected

    London Assembly member Zack Polanski is the new Green Party leader. Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward both join him as Deputy Leaders.

  • An election today would change things

    If an election is held today, the result may be telling of how the main parties in the Commons are struggling to get through to ordinary people.

    Labour might end up with a much reduced majority, as it’s said, and therefore less authority. Its Plan for Change would stall.

    The Conservatives might not even rise above its 121 last time, but Labour losses might tip it over – if it’s lucky.

    The rise of Reform UK is subject of speculation, but its tally would probably fall far short of its greatest hopes.

    The Liberal Democrats are strong, but its dreams of a heyday are far off and it would probably return a decent outcome.

    If the argument is over handling of issues, the Government can tout its raft of announcements, but one good idea may sink it yet if it gets through to people.

  • Corbyn’s Your Army will march to defeat

    The Jeremy Corbyn controversy continues. His latest attempt to make a success of leadership qualities is Your Party.

    This is a Left-leaning Parliamentary party geared toward those who like to preach at us in public.

    The trouble is Your Army marches into a battlefield of larger competing forces.

    It fails in firepower. The argument for our intervention is based on not-too-distant failed attempts.

    The star power of Corybn is a far cry from the dusty halls of power. It’s in these people fall on their swords.

  • The EU isn’t our paymaster – but it’s powerful

    The EU is a forgotten dream for the few who wanted it. The rest saw better opportunities in its networks – and corridors of power.

    Yet the 2016 referendum unleashed the UK.

    The result separated us from its constraints – and confines – but not its influence.

    It’s more powerful than we are.

    However, the shortcomings of its rule are our old arguments. The position it still has realigns ours.

    The global map offers zero space for our dominance now.

    We have to manage our own affairs.

    We’ve got to be hardworking, keep our place in the world, and be sovereign.

  • Corbyn’s politics is threadbare

    Jeremy Corbyn MP (Islington North/Independent) is a politician of experience but his politics has lately been vague.

    His Labour roots have given way to a popular sort of radicalism. It espouses great truths yet no solutions to modern problems are forthcoming.

    He preaches from a pulpit that has no further reach but the converted.

    His invitation to the Left to join a new party is a daring escapade. It could pay dividends, or lead to a further impoverishment of politics.

  • Starmer must act on Dover

    The Dover Crossings is a crisis in our time. It’s taken years to break the silence. It’s taken years to break a mould.

    The action taken against it is increasing because it’s a criminal act on a frightening scale.

    If the Prime Minister doesn’t stop the small boats, the small boats will stop the Prime Minister.

  • Starmer must walk carefully

    Sir Keir Starmer is a Prime Minister for a Labour revival, but his ethic is slowly thinning out.

    He’s offered Hamas a state if Israel refuses to call a ceasefire. It’s not a policy a Western state should have.

    Hamas win either way.

    Margaret Thatcher was careful in her communication of ideas. In a private meeting in Parliament she once quoted Hamlet by saying, “Words, words, words. We breathe life into them.”

    Everyone has a responsibility to speak carefully. We also have to act clearly. It’s time for our Prime Minister to do the same.

    In full view a terror group must be told to stop. It has to hear it. It’s a fact it can’t exist anymore.

  • Your Party celebrate new subscribers

    Zarah Sultana MP (Coventry South/Independent) has marked interest for Your Party.

    It’s a new effort to take on the political establishment in Lefty style.

    It’ll never be clear what it is and its aims will verge on criminal.

    However, it’ll keep people happy meanwhile.

    The reactions to her post show its direction of travel in the UK’s difficult political scene.

    “I’ve signed up for the bants, doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for you”, says one user (@BLAIMGame).

    “Soon to be the first British party with one million members”, Council Estate News predicts.

  • Starmer’s Cabinet is in a war

    Labour believe it’s a battle. They see adversaries in every part of UK life. The strongest are in businesses. There’s concern over salaries but also employee rights and future stakes.

    MP’s in Starmer’s top team.

    Starmer made up his Cabinet to answer some of these problems. It’s a key choice a Prime Minister makes. It starts their term. It helps set the terms. It also helps to do some of the heavy lifting.

    MP’s in Starmer’s top team.

    His Cabinet is largely holding together. In spite of the introduction of a hugely unpopular farm inheritance tax, most of his closest MP’s are still at his top table. His Plan for Change is on.

  • Dover needs a saviour

    The Dover Crossings are indicative of our straits after EU membership. We got nowhere as a member. We’re still struggling after.

    The necessity of an emergency is falling on deaf ears. The ‘clever’ are not in the Civil Service. They’re at work in AI, EV’s, and space travel.

    Their absurd ideas are now a threat. There’s zero cruelty in the common sense approach of legal experts. They just need to be listened to.

    We look after people as a country supremely well. Now, as a sovereign State, we need to do it for ourselves just as effectively.

  • Lord Tebbit dies

    Lord Tebbit has died.

    He’s said to have had extensive involvement in the political career of Margaret Thatcher.

    He provided intellectual and moral guidance in tumultuous times.

    He survived an IRA attack in 1984 in Brighton during an annual Conservative party conference.

    He advised other Conservative leaders.