Author: robert.marchant

Recently, it had seemed that the spate of idiotic “engagement” between some Labour MPs and far-right Muslim figures had happily died down.However, as if to prove me wrong, that there is no end to the imbecility of the pro-Palestine brigade, last week the Telegraph reported the launch of a “Muslim Manifesto” in Parliament by Yasmin Qureshi, Andy Slaughter… Continue reading The Muslim Manifesto and Labour’s useful idiots

As if to highlight the worsening of Russia’s already-disastrous political situation, last Friday night opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was found dead, after four shots in the back as he walked on a bridge in Moscow. Nemtsov was a decent man and, as a former deputy prime minister, one of Putin’s most high-profile remaining critics. Hilariously,… Continue reading Goodbye, Boris Nemtsov

What IS wants, in a picture As if it were not enough that the EU’s two principal member states – in the form of their leaders, François Hollande and Angela Merkel – spent much of the last few weeks happily handing to Vladimir Putin parts of another European country on a plate in return for… Continue reading If you want to know how our foreign policy has gone badly wrong, you need ask yourself only why IS now sits on the shores of the Mediterranean

While Labour has not had a brilliant last couple of weeks in the election campaign – its barely-coherent policy on the NHS being a case in point – the jury is still emphatically out on who will win, thanks largely to this parliament’s highly unusual electoral arithmetic. With things so tight in the polls, a… Continue reading A little dignity, a little pride

After the electoral success of Syriza in Greece, comes a massive demonstration in favour of Podemos in Madrid’s Plaza del Sol. The British left has been quick to see Syriza as the start of something. Surely there is about to be an Iberian repeat of that anti-austerity win, which will kill the Euro-zone’s austerity policies… Continue reading Podemos: it’s not what you think, British left

For the last few years, Labour Uncut – and this blog – have been repeating pretty much the same message: the Tories will mainly fight this election on two things: leadership and the economy. They haven’t disappointed. So far, they seem to have been talking about little else. Thing is, at this point the argument over… Continue reading It’s still all about leadership

So, apart from being a great nation who made a partial recovery after a great humiliation; vigorous rearmament; piecemeal neighbour-annexing; pursuing ultra-nationalist policies; persecuting minorities and any critics of the regime; a charismatic leader propagating a dual narrative for the country of both macho strength and victimhood; a controversial Olympics used as a propaganda tool… Continue reading Ten reasons why modern Russia is absolutely nothing like pre-war Germany

Charlie Hebdo‘s brilliant, poignant cover after the fatal attacks on its offices, depicting Mohammed as on the side of the victims Following last week’s fatal shootings in the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Monday night’s superbly-timed Panorama: The Battle for British Islam gave an insight into Islamic radicalism and the narratives which feed it. The most… Continue reading There is a debate going on about the future of British Islam. Labour needs to join it

Just one rider to the whole Charlie Hebdo affair. I did not mention that, after the killing in the magazine’s offices, a second incident in France resulted in deaths of (what we presume to be) Jewish customers in a kosher food shop.In an interview today for The Atlantic, French prime minister Manuel Valls says what… Continue reading Bravo, Manuel Valls

Regular readers will know that we have an occasional series, “The Guardian reaches a new low”, linking to particularly obnoxious pieces that that august organ sees fit to post to its website, Comment is Free. However – credit where it is due – the Guardian, uncharacteristically for recent years, reacted modestly well to this week’s… Continue reading The Guardian narrowly avoids reaching a new low