The Pragmatic Idealism of Team Corbyn
How irritating. I had drafted a short, blistering blog about how the NHS, the sacred cow of British politics, is a massive socialist project. “If the NHS did not exist”, I would have said, “none of...
View ArticleAnyone calling for candidates to drop out of the Labour Leadership race is an...
A quick point, if I may: You know how Jeremy Corbyn is now 20 points ahead of his rivals, and some people are urging the lesser candidates to consolidate behind a single Anyone-But-Jeremy candidate?...
View ArticleLiz Kendall as a Quick Case Study on Political Persuasion in the Digital Age
On Monday, Labour Party members received an e-mail from Liz Kendall in their inboxes: an open letter. You probably think I’m writing to ask you for your vote in the upcoming election for party leader....
View ArticleCould Corbynism compromise with Blairism?
The thing that irritates me about the Labour Leadership campaign is the Manichean approach adopted by everyone. We hear talk of schisms and splits and the “soul of the party” as if Corbyn is presenting...
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How would Corbyn govern?
With Jeremy Corbyn ahead in the polls and expected to win the Labour Leadership contest, there is plenty of discussion about how he would behave as leader and (possibly) Prime Minister. For example,...
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You’re not going out dressed like that!
On social media, a friend shares the above exchange, on the subject of sexual assault and the clothes women wear. The responses to the guy who compares women’s bodies to a bank vault are as good a...
View ArticleCorbyn
in the end, I didn’t vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Leadership election. I was just too worried about the issue of electability, and therefore the need to show economic competence to the wider...
View ArticleFree speech and the national anthem
Free speech includes the right to not say – or sing – something that you do not believe. Jeremy Corbyn exercised that right during the Battle of Britain memorial service earlier this week, when he...
View ArticleAnti-Politics as a Debt and a Cancer
The Trump candidacy is looking ever more likely. Here are a couple of opinion pieces noting the rise of the anti-politics he represents and why leaders within the Republican Party are now unable to...
View ArticleThe Typography of Labour Resignation Letters
Am I the only one to be interested in the various typefaces, typesetting and margin choices of all the Labour resignation letters? — robertsharp59 (@robertsharp59) June 27, 2016 This tweet of mine...
View ArticleNo-one In The Labour Party Has Staged A ‘Coup’
The worrying news from Turkey has made me think about the way in which the recent political machinations within the British Labour Party have been described (usually by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn) as...
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Five Quick Thoughts On The General Election Result
Here are five thoughts I had while watching the election results last night and this morning. 1. The Conservative Party’s coronation of Theresa May as their leader last summer looks, with hindsight, to...
View ArticleFair and Free: Labour, Liberty and Human Rights
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve written a chapter for Fair and Free: Labour, Liberty and Human Rights, the latest policy pamphlet from the Fabian Society. Naturally, my section is on freedom of...
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