Tax Is for Peasants
The country is apparently on fire again. Not literally this time, though give it a few weeks of underfunded fire brigades and we might get there. This week it’s train stabbings, prisoners released by mistake, and yet another police officer in court for something grim. The government will tell you these are isolated incidents. Just bad luck. A blip. But they are all symptoms of the same disease: austerity. The Price of Cutting Everythi...
Finding the Right Shade of Racism
Breakfast and Bigotry This “brown people in adverts” outrage is properly mad, isn’t it? Let’s be clear, what Sarah Pochin said was racist. Anyone who isn’t racist wouldn’t be triggered by seeing brown people eating cornflakes. It’s not complex sociology, it’s breakfast. But of course, along comes Farage, the people’s demagogue, to tell us we’ve all “taken it out of context.” You see, according to Nigel, if you ...
Is Labour’s Lack of Vision Opening Doors of Chaos?
It all looked so simple, didn’t it? Labour won their landslide in 2024, the champagne (or sparkling water) flowed, Starmer was steady at the wheel (don’t laugh) and the country breathed a collective sigh of relief. After years of chaos, were we back on the road to normality? But somewhere between the photo ops, the handshakes and the carefully-worded soundbites, Labour seems to have misplaced its vision (if it had one). It’s not that ...
The Great Myth of the Fleeing Billionaires
We’ve all heard the warning, usually whispered in trembling tones by certain newspapers or think tanks: “Careful now… if we tax the rich, they’ll all leave!” Oh no, not that. Imagine the tragedy: private jets queuing on the runway, chauffeurs sobbing at Heathrow, and a nationwide shortage of superyacht berths. Britain would never recover. Except, of course, it would. This myth that the super-rich will pack their bags the ...
Trump’s Middle East Peace Deal – A Plan So Vague It Could Mean Anything
Donald Trump’s much-trumpeted Middle East peace deal is, we are told, “historic.” You’d think from the way it was announced that he’d just solved the riddle of the Sphinx and invented world harmony before lunch. In reality, it was more of a rough sketch than a plan - the kind of thing you might draw on a fag packet after your fifth pint of Old Thumper with Mad Mick down at The Red Lion. Polite Clap To be fair, any attempt to ...