Has a party without power ever been scrutinised as thoroughly as Reform? Kent is Britain’s biggest county council by population, so it should come as little surprise it is being seen as a litmus test for how Reform UK would govern Britain. The answer, so far, is decidedly mixed. This seems to confirm the laziest […]
At the annual Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming this week, central bank leaders from Japan, the Eurozone and the UK warned that their economies need further immigration in order to fuel growth. According to their warning, ageing populations and declining birth rates threaten long-term economic growth and price stability across advanced economies, and without a […]
When you think of the jobs most likely to be automated away, which do you think of? Those most at threat are those that are repetitive and rule-based, require minimal social or emotional intelligence – and don’t rely heavily on creativity or complex judgement. Customer service work is often being quoted as at threat, as […]
A year before the election, if you’d have asked Keir Starmer why government wasn’t working, he would doubtless have replied that it was because the Tories were running it. But a year after the election, he can no longer take solace in such a glib answer; and his actions now suggest he recognises the problem […]
Eventually, all governments run out of steam. No leader, no matter how powerful, no matter their past achievements, can stave off the inevitable. Political scientists in America refer to the natural development of political fatigue as the ‘six year itch‘. After six years in office, the public’s growing dissatisfaction with the president, their party and their agenda, coincides with a […]
How far away are we from another wave of mass violence in Britain? The answer, it seems, is closer than is comfortable. We live in a more febrile climate than even the oldest can remember, and even the best-read can find no precedent for. We are seeing ever-increasing amounts of open & outright ethnic and […]
William Hague once described the Conservatives as an absolute monarchy, moderated by regicide. In his memoirs, David Cameron went further, describing the party as being ‘interrupted by incredibly violent bouts’ of the killing of its crowned. This is a key part of the Tories’ success over the years; the power of the party has always […]
The increasingly volatile voter is clear; something is rotten in the state of Britain. According to last year’s British Social Attitudes survey, only 40% of respondents believed the current system delivers effective government. A record 45% said they ‘almost never’ trust any party in power to prioritise the country’s needs over political self-interest, and 79% […]
It has become traditional to see stories over the winter months about the NHS in crisis. In a bleak new development, stories of institutional collapse in our healthcare system are emerging as a regular feature of early spring as well. This year – in a repeat of last year – there is huge frustration among […]
In a lecture titled ‘Politics as Vocation’, the philosopher Max Weber noted that: ‘To an outstanding degree, politics today is in fact conducted in public by means of the spoken or written word.’ It was true when he said it, in 1918; it is even more true now. Much of Weber’s speech, given to Munich […]
What is going to be the most meaningful shift in geopolitics for Britain for the next 20 years? Will it be the result of a trade war between America and China? The choice between charting an independent post-Brexit path or closer relations with an-ever centralising Europe? Increasing flows of migration from the global south northwards? […]
A new report, published by the GMC and written by its chief executive, Charlie Massey, has found that too many British doctors of BAME origin and overseas-trained medics are still being reported by their employers for alleged misconduct compared with white British-trained medics as a result of discrimination. The report offers a comprehensive update on […]
On Sunday, Tobias Ellwood MP tweeted his displeasure at a story in the Sunday Times that Nigel Farage planned to ‘take over’ the Tories. ‘History shows’, Ellwood wrote, that ‘a centre right Party appeals to the wider electorate and wins elections.’ Which rather raises the question: does Mr Ellwood feel like the member of a […]
Happy birthday, Rwanda plan! The project, as of last Sunday, is officially two years old. Were the Rwanda plan a child, at this point we could be expecting them to be ‘talking, walking, climbing, jumping, running and bustling with energy’, with a vocabulary that seems to expand faster than the universe. Yes, obviously the Rwanda […]
According to new research from the Times Educational Supplement, more than a quarter of candidates applying to teacher training courses starting next year are from overseas. Their analysis reveals international candidates account for 26% of all submissions so far this year – up from 17% at the same point last year. The number of submissions […]
Is enjoying the countryside racist? The answer, to some, is incontrovertibly yes. A report from Wildlife and Countryside Link, a group led by former Lib Dem PPC Richard Benwell with 80 members including WWF, the RSPCA and National Trust, has warned MPs that: ‘Racist colonial legacies continue to frame nature in the UK as a […]
Are you familiar with environmental subjugation? You may not be, but it’s certainly interested in you. Kenneth Clarke once wrote that architecture could be considered a social art; ‘an art by which men may be enabled to live a fuller life.’ Perhaps that potential is why so many politicians are drawn to grand architectural ambitions. […]
Will Britain’s housing crisis only be solved via the supply side? That’s certainly the opinion of Yimby thought leaders, who relentlessly – and rightly – mock the attempts of Conservative governments to try yet another demand-side reform to meet the 300,000 homes target (which it hasn’t met since taking office). But the idea that the […]
In a speech to the Labour and Civil Society Summit this week Keir Starmer attacked the Tory government, accusing it of anti-woke McCarthyism. Promising to end years of divisive culture wars, he said the Tories had demonised institutions like the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the National Trust, and ‘seem set on sabotaging civil […]
Since immigration levels first rose under Tony Blair, our immigration debate has developed a curious rhythm. First, the British electorate expresses unhappiness at the scale of immigration. The government therefore promises to alleviate these concerns, and comes up with a policy that will reduce said immigration. Suddenly, a discordant note; it is pointed out that […]
