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Like most Labourites, I am struggling to make sense of the fact that Britain has apparently just made a far-reaching decision to leave the European Union. One that changes the course of our history in a way which does not look at all positive.Unlike many, I am perhaps thinking of things deeper, and blacker, than… Continue reading The geopolitical case against Brexit matters

Oops, forgot to link here my piece from last week in the i, on Corbyn’s Europe briefing. Enjoy.

A country with a population half that of Britain is currently collapsing. Its president was defeated in the country’s parliamentary elections last December and, in the true style of demagogic leaders the world over, finally declared a state of emergency ten days ago in an attempt to cling onto power, backed by the country’s army.… Continue reading The Corbynite take on Venezuela tells you all you need to know about the leadership’s judgement

The leader’s office spin operation began long before the elections, because everyone knew they would be bad. The objective was simple: essentially, anything, anything at all to try and make them look other than the disaster most expected. For example as Dan Hodges, sometime of this parish, pointed out, the Corbyn team decided on a… Continue reading The results are in on Corbyn’s first few months. No matter how you spin it, they’re terrible

My umpteenth piece at the Independent – in this case the iPaper – is about the mayoral election in London, and it’s here. A little of the nuance got lost in the titling, but hey. This was my original title.

Political historians will one day chronicle last week. In their texts, Thursday will surely turn out to have been a watershed day for Labour. It was the day that the party could no longer ignore the fact that some of its senior people not only tolerate anti-Semites in their ranks, but can even slide into… Continue reading Corbyn and Livingstone cannot now both survive within the Labour party

There are some times when Labour and the Tories divide on party lines, not because merely they are whipped differently – or that they have dark and evil hearts, see Uncuts passim – but simply because they have fundamentally different ways of looking at the world. What might seem a no-brainer to ordinary folk –… Continue reading Of course we need to support those 3,000 Syrian children looking for a home. We helped put them there

Let us ask ourselves a simple question. When is the last time a major political party was seriously accused of endemic racism? That is, racism with a link to a segment of the party’s politics; not of a couple of isolated individuals, but of a group of activists in the rank and file, including numerous… Continue reading This kind of racism has not happened in any major party since the 1980s. Discuss.

Last week Operation Midland, a two-year investigation into an alleged homicide thirty years ago, concluded with no charges made. It was the latest of several inquiries into child abuse, some of which are still ongoing. Back in 2012, the Metropolitan Police began Operation Yewtree, culminating in the arrests and convictions of a number of people,… Continue reading Operation Midland: time to examine our prejudices

Welcome to the modern Labour party, where it appears that, after less than 18 months of penitence, an anti-Semitic comment can be forgiven. Then, er, unforgiven shortly after, once the story’s been published by Guido Fawkes. The story: Sepember 2014, Kirby is suspended from the party after offensive comments comparing Israelis to Hitler. Not to… Continue reading Vicki Kirby McCluskey: more allegations of anti-Semitism, as the party’s entry procedures descend into farce