Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
The current state of British politics
February 9th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
Today, the “Observer” newspaper carries the results of a political opinion poll just carried out by Opinium. The results are disturbing. The poll shows Labour on 27%, Reform UK on 26% and the Tories on 22%. The Liberal Democrats are on 11% and the Greens on 8%. Reform has risen from about 20% since shortly […]
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When and where was the world’s first railway line?
January 18th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
The world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives ran between Stockton and Darlington in the north-east of England. Since my family name is Darlington (although I’ve only visited the town once – in 1983), this historical event has always had a special resonance for me. The line was officially opened on 27 September 1825. […]
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Do you have a branch of Gail’s in your neighbourhood?
August 23rd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
I’m fascinated by the sudden debate about the desirability or otherwise of having a branch of Gail’s in your neighbourhood. Since the end of the first Covid lockdown, we’ve had a Gail’s at the corner of my street in London’s South Bank, so close that I can see it from my flat window. I use […]
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COBRA met this week – but what is it?
August 6th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
It is reported that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has convened a meeting of Cobra in order to plan a response to the far Right rioting around the country that has followed the terrible stabbings in Southport. Cobra sounds really exciting. It evokes images of a venomous snake or – if you’re a movie fan […]
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Why we need proportional representation – even if we don’t like voter choices
July 6th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
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How can one obtain a revealing interview?
June 23rd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
In this weekend’s “Observer” newspaper, there’s a long and revealing interview by Charlotte Edwards of the Leader of the Labour Party, soon to be Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. It reminded me of when I was interviewed as a Parliamentary candidate and of when recently I conducted a series of interviews of staff and residents in […]
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Learning lessons from the Post Office scandal
May 22nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington
For 23 years, I was a national official with a trade union which represented the staff in the small number of main post offices actually owned by Post Office Limited (POL). Then, for 17 years, I sat on bodies representing customers of post offices. On one occasion (an awards ceremony), I spent the evening sitting […]
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What if the Labour Party wins the coming General Election with a huge majority?
March 19th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
Do you remember the General Election of December 2019? Do you really remember it? The Conservative Party, then led by Boris Johnson, won a landslide victory with a majority of 80 seats, a net gain of 48, on 43.6% of the popular vote, the highest percentage for any party since the General Election of 1979. […]
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A review of the book “But What Can I Do?” by Alastair Campbell
February 24th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
The last book that I read was “Why We Get The Wrong Politicians” by Isabel Hardman. In my view, that work put too much emphasis and blame on individuals for the current state of British politics, spent far too much time describing the problem and very little time suggesting remedies, and was overly pessimistic about the present […]
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“Why We Get The Wrong Politicians” by Isabel Hardman (2022)
January 27th, 2024 by Roger Darlington
This analysis of British politicians was first published in 2018 (when it was a winner at the Parliamentary Book Awards) and then revised and updated in 2022. I was given it as a present for Christmas 2023 and therefore read it in a year (2024) when we will have a General Election which is almost […]
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