Archive for the ‘British current affairs’ Category
Can British politics get any weirder?
September 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
First the Labour Party elects a Leader of the Opposition who, in 32 years as a Member of Parliament, has never sat on the Front Bench. Then the Prime Minister is savaged by a biography co-authored by someone who is a principal funder of the PM’s political party. Amusing though the tales of Cameron’s university […]
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So, a week after Jeremy Corbyn’s election, where does Labour stand with the wider electorate?
September 20th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
An Opinium/Observer poll today shows that the wave of “Corbynmania” which swept him to the leadership has not spread across the wider voting public. The Conservatives (on 37%) remain five points ahead of Labour (32%) with Ukip on 14% and the Lib Dems on 6%. When voters were asked who they would choose to be […]
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What Jeremy Corbyn and I have in common
September 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Apparently the new Leader of the Labour Party frequents a central London cafe called “Gaby’s” which is one of my favourites too. All is explained in this news clip. In fact, such is my love of “Gaby’s” that I set my first short story there. It is called “Making A Difference” and you can read […]
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So where is Stella Creasy in Labour’s new Shadow Cabinet?
September 15th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Labour’s new leader Jeremy Corbyn has chosen his new Shadow Cabinet. It’s very large (31 including him) and has women in half the positions, but the women members are not in the top posts and some of the positions have no equivalent in the Government’s Cabinet. Notable by her absence is Stella Creasy. Almost five […]
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24 things that Jeremy Corbyn believes
September 14th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
The Labour Party has a new leader – someone most of the public had never heard of until a few months ago and someone with whom most Labour MPs have never had a serious conversation. So understandably there is a lot of interest in his political beliefs and positions. The BBC has helpfully compiled a list […]
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Is Jeremy Corbyn really unelectable as Prime Minister?
September 12th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I fear so – which is why he only had my last vote on the ballot paper in the Labour leadership election. I would love to be proved wrong but, taken together, the 10 factors identified in this thoughtful piece make me believe that the 2020 General Election is already lost for Labour unless there is […]
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Are we about to see the greatest voter disenfranchisement in British history?
September 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In most democracies, voting rights were not freely given to all adults but had to be fought for over centuries. People around the world think Britain has an long-established democracy but, as Antonia Fraser set out so brilliantly in her book “Perilous Question: The Drama Of The Great Reform Bill 1832” [my review here], before the Act only […]
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We would be stupid to ignore Tony Blair
August 30th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Some people may not like Tony Blair; they might despise his inclusion of Britain in the invasion of Iraq; they may resent his warnings about the dangers of electing Jeremy Corbyn as the next Leader of the Labour Party. But the guy is the most successful leader that the party has ever had, taking it […]
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Is the ageing of those who can and do vote killing social democracy?
August 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
This is an (edited) extract from a blog posting this week by Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). “Most people are familiar with the inequality in turnout between the social classes. No less egregious is the inequality in turnout between the generations. This is now a major political cleavage, with […]
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What are the most popular names for new babies in Britain?
August 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
According to the data compiled annually by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2014 – published this week – were as follows: Position Boys Girls 1 Oliver Amelia 2 Jack Olivia 3 Harry Isla 4 Jacob Emily 5 Charlie Poppy 6 Thomas Ava […]
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