A Frozen Game of Politics
UK politics is badly broken today. How many new leaders, ministers, and party members does it take to fix the system?
Lies, Damn Lies, and Advertising
Getting away with blatantly bad advertising is harder than you’d think. Car mileage, credit cards, and vacuum cleaners flagrantly twist the rules into knots, but their facts and figures are rarely made up out of nothing. More often than not, their fine print is thick with disclaimers and messages which give the ‘real’ numbers underneath. The reason that these companies stick so close to the real-life numbers isn’t because of their outstanding morals or ethics, it’s the law. There are…
The Things We can(‘t) Afford
The economy is a bizarre thing. The word alone is as useful as a magic spell is to a movie franchise superhero. It’s brought into action by politicians and pundits to justify everything from the atrocious to the strange. Stick on a channel, any channel, and you’ll very often hear—we simply can’t afford adequate (one week) foodbank stocks right now. We just don’t have the money. Healthcare, justice, policing, and education have been wrung-dry for over the last decade for…
Yes, why?
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson may have been the last person in the country to catch-on following last weeks general election. The former MP’s outgoing speech spoke of a ‘wave of nationalism sweeping both sides of the border.’ Swinson’s message of dangerous modern politics throughout the campaign seems to be either wilfully or accidentally blind to voting intent. Even Scottish Labour, a branch party which are somehow less politically tuned in than their parental counterpart, are showing signs of coming…
And They’re Off!
One of the most voluntarily dysfunctional parliaments of all time will suspend itself on Wednesday, just weeks after it opened. Since the current Prime Minister took office, the house has briefly returned from summer recess, very briefly prorogued itself in a way which turned out to be illegal, and broke again for a semi-serious Queen’s speech shortly after. It’s a wonder Conservative government has had the time to lose as many votes as they have in the brief intervals in…
The Simple Brexit Solution
Since triggering Article 50, Brexit has been touted as the unsolvable problem. In many minds, there’s no single solution that satisfies the problems of the Irish border, those bloody Scottish and Irish remoaners, and the desire to see the democratic result of the referendum carried out to its complete conclusion. But there is a simple, undiscussed solution that puts to bed all of the secondary consequences of Brexit while carrying out the result. Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson laid…
Building Our Own Disasters
The government has a literal never-ending list of things to do. When they go on summer and winter break, it’s not because the country has been ‘sorted’ and all the work of governing is done with for the time being. Within their, typically four day week, members often handle evergreen topics such as education, health, employment, business, and international relations. Occasionally members debate urgent crises such as the climate change emergency or acute disasters. Most sane individuals recognise that tackling…
How Far Exactly Do we ‘Back Brexit’
The consequences of Brexit are becoming clearer and clearer by the day. The impact and damage to be done, previously theoretical, are being actively prepared for now. Yesterday, the Government released its Brexit planning documents by court order. Dubbed ‘Operation Yellowhammer’ (a small bird which freely migrates throughout Europe) the report outlines the ‘reasonable worst-case planning assumptions’ associated with a sudden break from the EU. The controversial paper outlines delays and shortages which can be expected to hit the country…
The 30 Something Voter
As the country considers the threat of a third general election in four years, it’s interesting to consider how voters might lean the next time they the ballot booth. Brexit will of course be the single issue which makes and breaks votes in a 2019 ‘surprise’ election. Whether the UK has withdrawn or not, Brexit will define the next parliament. Conservative and Brexit/UKIP parties will sweep up the majority of the leave vote while remain splits primarily through SNP, Lib…