Current Affairs
Refugees and the Constructed Crisis
I was talking to a friend the other day and his words intrigued me. He asked me how I would like having an Albanian gangster living next door me. The truth is, I would not like it very much. Then again I would not like any gangster of any nationality living next door to me. Gangsters are not very nice people, particularly people traffickers. However, I'd say the chances of that are slimmer than getting hit by lightning, so I am not unduly ...
Can Sunak be a Good PM?
So, in comes the next Prime Minister, unelected but crowned. The big question is, how will Rishi Sunak get on? Will he fail spectacularly, grovelling to the demands of the back bench crackpots, or will he take the party kicking and screaming out of the 20th Century and away from its imperial delusions? The Positive of Useless Predecessors The positive for Sunak is that he is following Liz Truss. Truss was the final act in a game where ...
The Slow Death of Populism as Truss Runs Down Cul-De-Sacs
As the populist division of the Tory Party collapses, it should be time for the British public to reflect. People who say, “I don’t do politics”, need to look at themselves, be brave, and ask why they fall for politicians that offer simplistic red-meat solutions to complex questions. The Unraveling That’s how we ended up with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng. It all started unraveling when Cameron’s government was chased out ...
Self-Employment, Unions and Workers Rights
I only ever experienced being in a union once. It was at the AWE when it was the Civil Service. I was only 18 so I didn’t really know or care what a union was. All that I knew was that there was to be a strike and my boss, Anne, disapproved. I didn’t like her, so I went on strike, which involved turning up to a meeting for an hour, then having a half day. Workers Rights Thereafter, up until I set up my own business, any protection I ...
Sinking to Blaming the French for Our Decision
I was imagining the other day what it would be like to work in customs when the law about checking passports changed. When I used to go to France a fair bit, you just had to hold your passports up, barely braking as you did so. If there was a queue building, they hardly bothered even looking. Stamping Passports Now they must mess about stamping the passports one by one. If a family of five are going on holiday, what a ball ache that must ...