Monthly Archives: January 2019

One of the most persistent myths in British politics is that Jeremy Corbyn is a nice man. His swaying fanbase speaks of him in the breathless superlatives of a teenage pop crush. Even some of his conservative foes indulge him as a kindly old gent, sentimentalising a far-left demagogue the way the establishment did TonyContinue reading “Corbyn the ‘socialist’ has no empathy for ordinary people”

Sombre hung the mood at Holyrood as MSPs filed in for the weekly ding-dong. Hushed whispers swirled around the backbenches; awkward glances were fleetingly exchanged. The tension held fast then snapped quickly when Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh announced: ‘Members will be aware of reports in the media this morning that the former first minister AlexContinue reading “Nicola Sturgeon thinks you’re better than that”

There is a clip doing the rounds on the internet at the moment. We see Theresa May brave the flashbulb firing squad on her way into Number 10 and then, with the help of a lookalike and some clever editing, she closes the famous black oak door and slumps against the wall before unleashing aContinue reading “Parliament has utterly failed the voters on Brexit”

This week she was ready for them. Last Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon was a jabbering mess under the inquisitive glare of Jackson Carlaw, a man whose interrogation techniques are less The Sweeney, more Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. His idea of roughing up a suspect is correcting their grammar. The First Minister was poorly prepared for questions aboutContinue reading “Patrick Harvie, the Crocodile Dundee of nationalism”

The Nationalists have never had a week like last week. Not when they freed Megrahi. Not when the voters ditched a third of their MPs. Not even when they lost the referendum. Nicola Sturgeon’s septem horribilis was the lowest point thus far in the SNP’s 11-year reign. It began last Tuesday when the Scottish GovernmentContinue reading “Nicola Sturgeon’s septem horribilis”

There it was. Ten minutes into the first question time of 2019, peppered with queries on her role in the Alex Salmond investigation, Nicola Sturgeon dropped the hand grenade at her own feet. She was busy insisting her meetings with the former First Minister were not Government business when Jackson Carlaw asked who else wasContinue reading “Nicola Sturgeon drops a hand grenade at her own feet”

During the Blair Terror, true socialists would gather at conference fringes to lament a Labour government the way only Labour members can. They would grieve the party’s triangulations and console themselves that the voters were more radical than the government. Why, just look at the polls showing most wanted to renationalise the railways. Most doContinue reading “Why would we want the people who can’t deliver Brexit running the railways?”