Opinion

Last week new figures were released confirming what many of us had suspected for some time. While the incomes of the richest households grew by 4.7 per cent those in the poorest strata of society saw their incomes fall by 1.6 per cent on average, proving beyond doubt that the rich are indeed getting richer while the poor become poorer. But what few people realise is that inequality benefits few people in the grand scheme of things, and there is...

"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 MPs clearly think they have the right to vote for national suicide. And who could blame them? The past three years have seen the development of a politics of self-harm....

It’s been a difficult few weeks for the Brexit adventure. The meaningful vote has turned into a merry-go-round of re-runs which leaves us wondering exactly which definition of meaningful is being applied. Amidst cries from the ERG that the People’s Vote lobby simply wants to have vote after vote until they get the decision they want, Theresa May wilfully misinterprets the word ‘No’ in favour of doing exactly the same thing. In spite of denials about running down the Brexit...

“sometimes accusations of racism are used by people against people they don’t like and that weakens the fight against genuine racism”

Home Office neglect and incompetence has now resulted in the head of MI6, Alex Younger, warning that returning jihadis present a real threat to national security.

Nigel Farage used his LBC slot to berate Jeremy Corbyn last night after the Labour leader announced a framework for backing a second referendum. A furious caller told the former UKIP leader that Corbyn had "betrayed" the north and that the Labour party had “no chance” in gaining seats in its traditional heartlands now the party had, in essence, simply delivered on proposals agreed in the last Labour Party conference. Farage responded saying "if people give up totally on the...

This week's announcement that nine Labour MPs have quit the party to join forces with centrist Conservatives as the Independent Group sounds like a little bit of history repeating for those old enough to remember the formation of the Social Democratic Party. In January 1981, four cabinet ministers announced their intention to move away from the Labour Party, citing concerns over the direction - namely, to the left - that the party was heading in. They claimed "a handful of trade union...

A cross party coalition between the Liberal Democrats, SNP and newly-formed Independent Group could stand a chance of ousting the big two for the first time in modern British political history at the next General Election if they campaign on a Remain ticket.  Early indications suggest the Independent Group and Liberal Democrats would account for more than 20 per cent of the vote if an election was held tomorrow. Added to the 35 SNP MPs currently sitting in parliament it...

Honda's decision to shut its factory in Swindon with the loss of 3,500 jobs is nothing to do with Brexit. The move, which comes on the back of a number of crushing manufacturing blows, was confirmed as a non-Brexit-related issue by the firm's most senior executive in Europe on the Today Programme. Like Sony, Dyson, Jaguar Land Rover, Panasonic, Lloyds, Unilever, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Airbus, Flybmi, P&O, HSBC, JP Morgan, UBS, Ford, Hitachi, Toshiba, AXA, Moneygram, Philips and the Bank of America, it's...