I'm sorry about this- though regualr visitors will already have made the obvious conclusion- but I've stopped posting on my blog. I've been doing it since May 2005 which is not a bad stint a… Read More

I've always compared UKIP with the SDP in terms of its support and we do perhaps see a suggestion that the 'party of protest' is witnessing one of the characteristics of such phenomena: fadi… Read More

   I'm a huge admirer of Max Hastings as a historian- his recent book on world war two was brilliant. But I've just heard him on World at One, burbling nonsense about the Kenyan vi… Read More

I can recall Cameron promising back in May 2010 to tighten up the rules on lobbying, predicting it was 'the next big scandal waiting to happen.' Since then we have seen lobbyists being hyper… Read More

Nick Clegg's intervention earlier this week in which he attacked Tory rightwingers for bewing 'consumed by game playing' and aserted that the coalition would continue its vital work of refor… Read More

From 1992 when the Lamont tumbkled the UK out of the ERM, Tory poll ratings bumped along at less than a third of the vote right up until David Cameron, with his noteless conff… Read More

Much of the Tory case for reforming welfare rests on the contention that a substantial proportion of those on benefits are not there legitimately: that they are, in other words, 'cheats… Read More

Some commentators, like Simon Hoggart and Polly Toynbee in The Guardian dwelt on the absurdity of the ceremonial. The Queen’s Speech, they wrote, is printed on goatskin vellum. the ink… Read More

Martin Kettle writes an astonishing article today in The Guardian. He argues that parliament, the proper and elected source of government authority has been defeated by the press. Just… Read More

Nigel Farage has a good line in attacking his opponents, offering no quarter as he knifes their reputations, with gleeful abandon. But today has seen the backlash: Tories leading the charge… Read More

 When the financial crisis arrived in 2007 many criminologists expected crime to soar, as it has in the pastduring tough financial times. What has happened however, is astonishingly cou… Read More

I must apologize for a long period of no posting- the result of not being able to get into my site to do so; sems my browser would not let me buth I then found another which did. This post i… Read More

So it’s happened. For anyone of my ‘baby boomer’ age cohort, I thought this would be a ‘stop all the clocks’ moment either of champagne cork popping celebration… Read More

I still feel angry and let down by this story, even though it's it's over a decade old. I fully confess that after 18 years of dismal and selfish Tory rule, I was delighted Blair had somehow… Read More

This story initially provokes two sentiments, both species of disillusion. The story is about .the seizure of Abdel Hakim Belhaj in Malaysia and their virtual abduction to Libya on a CIA jet… Read More

Boris Johnson is certainly a phenomenon in British politics. Ian Hislop says he's 'our Berlusconi' only funnier'Maybe, I think he's a tiny bit like Chauncey Gardener, the Peter sellers chara… Read More

Four points about our Press  1. Supposedly we've had no press regulation by the government for 300 years. But surely our legal system offers a form of press regulation? In terms of libe… Read More

When meeting the victims of phone hacking Cameron promised he would accept and implement its recommendations, 'as long as they weren't bonkers'. Well, nobody serious has even begun to accuse… Read More

Today's article by Barbara Ellen in The Observer, excoriates the 'shameless, arrogant chump', Chris Huhne for being, well, shameless and arrogant, while praising Vicky Pryce for 'not going q… Read More

The Economist recently offered a gloomy assessment of the Syrian Civil War.  "Syria looks increasingly likely to fall prey to feuding warlords, Islamists and gangs—a new Somalia… Read More

 The results of this contest have been long anticipated as hugely important-‘pivotal’ said Martin Kettle in The Guardian eight days ago and few disagreed. The actual result… Read More

My picture reflects just a little of the bemusement Cameron must be feeling, alongside his turkey of a candidate, as Thursday approaches. The Rennard allegations are ugly and it's hard to be… Read More

Sorry not to have posted for over a week but I have been to Paris for a long weekend to celebrate my wife, Carolyn's 60th birthday. Looking at the occasional estate agent's window it was obv… Read More

Take a good look at this picture- it's of Maria Hutchings, the Tory candidate for Chris Huhne's old seat in the by-election to be held 28th of this month. One reason for looking carefully is… Read More

Oh Lor! Poor old Dave's ongoing 'moderisation' process took a turn for the worse last night as, whilst the second reading of the bill was passed 400-175 some 136 Tory MPs rebelled against hi… Read More