Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category


Jeremy Corbyn will soon be gone – and then …

June 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

This has been the most tumultuous week in British politics in my lifetime. On a large turnout but by a small margin, the electorate voted for Britain to leave the European Union. I still can’t quite believe that this will happen but I have no idea how it will not. Meanwhile political careers are falling […]

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What exactly is Article 50 and how is it activated?

June 27th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

On 23 June, there was a referendum on the issue of UK membership of the European Union and the shock waves are rippling through every corner of British politics and the British economy. On a turnout of 71.8% (the highest turnout in a UK-wide vote since the 1992 general election), 51.9% voted for the UK […]

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Trying to makes sense of the vote for Brexit

June 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

“A quick note on the first three tragedies. Firstly, it was the working classes who voted for us to leave because they were economically disregarded, and it is they who will suffer the most in the short term. They have merely swapped one distant and unreachable elite for another. Secondly, the younger generation has lost […]

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The result of Britain’s EU referendum debate changes EVERYTHING

June 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Yesterday, I voted in a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. I voted to remain in the EU – as I did in the referendum of 1975. We now know the result. On a turnout of 71.8% (the highest turnout in a UK-wide vote since the 1992 general election), 51.9% voted for […]

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The weather – like our politics – has gone mad

June 20th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Technically, today is the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere as explained in this short note. But it seems that nobody told the weather. Here in London, we have grey skies and heavy rain and a temperature of 15C. On Thursday, the UK holds a referendum to decide whether the country will remain a […]

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Celebrating the life of Jo Cox

June 17th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Today the one subject on the mind of everyone in Britain is the appalling murder of Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox. As we mourn her death, we should celebrate her life and it was a life dedicated with passion to the cause of social justice, as is explained in this profile.

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Will the polls get it right on Britain’s EU referendum?

June 4th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

I’ve blogged several times on the growing difficulties for accurate political polling [for one example, see here]. Indeed. for all sorts of methodological and behavioural reasons, I think finding out what consumers and citizens really think is becoming harder. So I was interested in this article in the “Washington Post” by three academics which takes […]

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Britain fourth on ‘good country’ index thanks to science and technology

June 3rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington

The British are not very good at taking pride in themselves or their country, so we should celebrate this news that the UK has come fourth in the latest version of something called the good country index. A major factor is its global contribution to science and technology, thanks to the high number of journal exports, […]

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What are the differences between American and British politics?

May 17th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Earlier this week, I spent almost four hours in discussion – much of it recorded – with an American academic visiting London: Professor Gerald Sussman. He is the author of six books and is currently researching for a seventh. As he explained in an introductory e-mail: “I’m a professor of international politics at Portland State […]

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The great city of London has a mayor who is Muslim and Labour

May 7th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

On Thursday, I voted for a Hindu Navin Shah for the London Assembly and for a Muslim Sadiq Khan to be the London mayor. Of course, I voted for them because they were the Labour candidates, not because of their religion or ethnicity, but I was proud that my political party is so diverse in […]

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