It was difficult, if not impossible, for the official opposition to challenge the Coalition when the government was effectively implementing New Labour [austerity] policies. It is important to stress this fact, because as elections approach the sleepwalker segment of the … Read More »
Where we get to tick a box every five years while billionaires spray venom and foretell doom should too many of us tick The Wrong Box? (How many editorials and headlines did you get to write this past few weeks, … Read More »
Seventies feminists, and progressives in general, were pretty clueless on genetics. They had to be, to attack male supremacism with the necessary force. In any case the pendulum was still arcing outwards from the horrors of a philistine geneticism painfully … Read More »
So. Labour, emboldened by Falciani on HSBC and enraged by Signor Pessina on how Britons should vote, has tax avoidance in its sights. Predictably the Mail responded with headlines like that of three days ago: Red Ed the Tax Avoider. … Read More »
Yesterday our resident teen asked us to guess top trend on Twitter. We got it: # je suis charlie hebdo. Fourth was # kill all muslims Just park that a moment. I’ll come back to it. Later, on Newsnight, we saw … Read More »
There’s no getting round it: life throws up tough conundrums. Why am I blessed with nipples? Is Jimi’ s All Along the Watch Tower, or Bruce’ s Chimes of Freedom, the best ever Dylan cover? When I drop a hundred slices of toast on … Read More »
A friend questions my broad-brush style. He has both a history degree and a point. A cornerstone of critical thinking is that the more counter-intuitive a claim, the more evidence it needs. My recent posts run counter to dominant narratives … Read More »
Recap from part 1: Ankara is unwilling to move against ISIS because (a) that would aid Kurdish Peshmerga linked to a PKK it sees as terrorist; (b) in a bid for regional supremacy Erdogan turned on the man he used … Read More »
Isis looks set to overrun Kurdish resistance at Kobani. Not because these fanatics are invincible but because, as ever in the Middle East, a grim realpolitik prevails in the stakeholder capitals. Let’s set aside – we don’t have all day! … Read More »
For those who remember the seventies period piece, When the Boat Comes In, BBC 2’s Peaky Blinders – series two starting on Thursday – will have a familiar ring. Both are set in the turbulent aftermath of WW1. Both give … Read More »