OPINION
— With the SNP leadership race in full swing, whoever emerges victorious must unite all independence supporters and make a compelling case for independence to win over undecideds.
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s latest Brexit analysis on David Lammy’s speech that was maybe the first time since Brexit that a major politician challenged its central, flawed assumptions. A small but welcome first step to realism.
Climate Change
— Labour has accepted £12,000 from the UK’s largest carbon emitter, major polluter Drax. Why?
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s analysis on how the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Retained EU Law Bill processes rumble on undramatically but with potential for crisis and chaos, the idea that Brexit is dying, and thoughts on how Re-joiners will need to build and sustain a ‘big tent’.
UK Politics
— The public still does not know what Keir Starmer and the Labour party stand for. Inspiration could come from a surprising source.
OPINION
— The most notable thing about Keir Starmer’s speech last week was the way in which the Labour leader shamelessly nicked so many Tory and Vote Leave slogans. Will he be touring the UK in a bus with £350 million a week for the NHS on the side of it next?
Long-Read
— With Labour looking like a government in waiting, the understandable caution of its Brexit policy faces calls to be bolder. Actually, it just needs to be more imaginative, Professor Chris Grey argues.
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s latest Brexit analysis on why despite last-ditch attempts by Brexiters to redefine ‘success’, the public view has settled that Brexit has failed. But for now, our politics is incapable of responding to the failure of Brexit.
UK Politics
— The plan to abolish the House of Lords has drawn the most attention but Labour is also proposing radical changes to how power is distributed.
UK Politics
— With everyone from rail workers to civil servants going on strike over the winter, it’s hard to see this ending well. To say the least, Rishi Sunak’s government is in a very difficult position.
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s analysis on how the budget aftermath exposed the costs and the lack of public consensus for Brexit. Some of the revived debate repeats the past, but there is a new context. How Labour responds now is crucial.
Trust in Politics
— The public does not trust British political parties at the moment, particularly not the Tories. This affects their ability to govern because much of governing is about persuading people to do or not to do things, and that becomes impossible if voters believe that they are being lied to all the time.
OPINION
— Labour promising yet again to abolish the House of Lords is just more of the same old waffle, which will lead to an upper chamber which serves the interests of the government of the day.
OPINION
— We are stuck in the Tory game of make-believe that everything is coming up roses in an English country garden. The reality is that following Brexit the rest of the world looks at England with a mixture of perplexity, pity, and amused contempt.
OPINION
— It is safe to say now that the Conservative party has made a catastrophic mistake by choosing Liz Truss as its leader and as Prime Minister.
UK Politics
— Keir Starmer has never made the creation of a story of us central to his leadership; his storytelling is an occasional practice. When he brings it out, his instincts are spot on, but so far he has lacked the courage of his convictions.
