There are some events that traumatise a country. Some countries are unlucky enough to experience dozens of national disasters, making trauma part of their cultural make up. This true of Ireland, Hungary, Germany and Russia to mention just a few. But not Great Britain. The UK has had its fair...
"But the Queen has no such veto; She must sign her own death-warrant if the two Houses unanimously send it up to her." So Walter Bagehot wrote in 1867. It's doubtful whether today's MPs believe parliamentary supremacy encompasses regicide. But why not try it out? After all, a majority of...
There is a British baby in Syria. His name is Jarah. He’s only a few days old. His two older siblings are dead. He might never see his father. And his mother? She’s an object of hate. Plastered across British newspapers, Shamima Begum is the ‘Jihadi bride’ who’s been told...
Was Winston Churchill a bad person? It’s amazing how such a simple question has set off a storm of acrimony and accusations. John McDonnell must have known what would happen when he attacked one of the sacred cows of British nationalist myth. McDonnell has problems of his own to contend...
There are two things we have to recognise if we hope to understand Brexit. The first is something everyone should have known from the start. The second is a fact becoming clearer by the day. Both are bad for the United Kingdom. First, the UK was always going to be...
Picture this. Jeremy Corbyn is driving through Islington on constituency business. He pulls out of a side road too fast and collides with another car, carrying a woman and a nine-month-old baby. The woman suffers a broken wrist, but Corbyn and the baby are unharmed. When Corbyn is pulled from...
What exactly is so conservative about Brexit? That’s ‘small c’ conservative. And it’s a question that’s rarely been asked over the last three years. Most people, on both sides of the debate, seem to take for granted that conservatives are and ought to be in favour of leaving the European...
There is now a realistic possibility that the UK will not leave the European Union. Talks are already under way to extend the Article 50 deadline. An extension can only mean one thing: a second referendum. EU leaders will not extend the deadline to allow for renegotiation of the Withdrawal...
The great survivor has done it again. Theresa May is still prime minister and she’s still leading her troops on the long march towards Brexit. But there are no spoils of victory for May to enjoy. Her deal still won’t pass the House of Commons and the EU has categorically...