For a Government so concerned with the rise of right-wing populism, Keir Starmer and pals seem bizarrely intent on vindicating all of the least charitable right-wing predictions about what a Labour Government would be like. Following the furore about grooming gangs at the beginning of the year, reports broke last week that the Government was […]
Amidst discussions about Treasury bonds, corruption scandals and grooming gangs, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Britain isn’t just in poor shape domestically – it’s also embarrassing itself on the world stage. Keir Starmer’s planned Chagos Islands handover was put on ice this week, with incoming US President Donald Trump set to […]
The great American populist has done it again, dodging bullets – both literally and figuratively – to clinch a second term in the White House. Naturally, Trump’s victory has provoked hysteria from the usual suspects. Supposedly sensible centrists have devolved into hysteria, crying ‘fascism’ and clutching their pearls. Somehow, I struggle to believe that a […]
Happy Tax Freedom Day to all who celebrate! Today marks the date on which the average British worker stops paying tax to the state and starts earning for themselves. To be fair, while we at the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) celebrate the occasion, we should recognise that not everybody in Britain shares the centre-right view […]
During the grim days of Covid lockdowns, one of the few comforts for liberty-loving Britons was the knowledge that, however bad things were, we weren’t as bad as New Zealand. Tales of Antipodean authoritarianism were a reminder that things could always be worse. Yet as the British right flounders on the cusp of electoral oblivion, […]
From obscure 12th century statutes to amusing judicial wigs, there’s much to admire in the gradual development of Britain’s legal order. However, the outdated leasehold system which plagues more than 5m homes in England and Wales is an altogether less charming anachronism. To cut a long story short, leasehold is effectively a form of quasi-ownership, […]
Of all the silly sayings in British politics, one of the silliest must surely be ‘Singapore-upon-Thames’ – an unhelpful turn of phrase bandied about by those who know little about economics, and even less about Singapore. If there is a lesson to be learned from Singaporean history, it’s that nations prosper when they focus on […]
It’s not often you’ll read a defence of a blocked planning application or indeed the Mayor of London in CapX, yet here we are – driven to the unthinkable by the Stratford Sphere. For those blissfully unaware of the Sphere, it’s a proposed area and concert venue on the edge of the Olympic Park with […]
When reflecting on Rishi Sunak, it’s not often that the word ‘magician’ springs to mind. Yet on Monday morning, the Prime Minister pulled off one of the most impressive political conjuring tricks in living memory. With surprising deft, he plucked a David Cameron-shaped rabbit from the hat and simultaneously made controversial Home Secretary Suella Braverman […]
To write a hagiography of James Callaghan for CapX is a little like extolling the virtues of Sir Alex Ferguson in the bar at Anfield. For many on the right, he is the ultimate manifestation of incompetent 1970s socialism, the Labour Prime Minister of three years who ushered in about 18 years of Conservative rule. […]
