Will Tory MPs put seats ahead of Britain’s interests?
As the Tories’ infighting to succeed Johnson intensifies and as their dirty internecine war of mutual disparagement gathers pace, I have to say that I find it remarkable that the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, who initially led the popularity stakes among Tory grassroots members should pull out of the contest almost before […]
Keir Starmer is right to play the long game
Keir Starmer made a speech in which he went out of his way to make clear that Labour does not intend to undo Brexit or bring the UK back into the single market or restore freedom of movement. This speech is significant for several reasons. Labour strategists want to create a context in which they […]
Can directly elected mayors really make a difference in improving our cities?
Directly elected mayors (DEMs) have been proposed as the solution to the general malaise in local government. But it is arguable that the problems with local government run deeper than can be resolved by giving someone chosen by the electorate a five-year term as mayor. In the case of Limerick city and county, a plebiscite […]
The fruits of populism are ripening, falling and rotting
I suppose many people will have asked themselves whether there is not a contradiction of sorts in a society which appears to prohibit state legislatures from infringing the right of all citizens to keep and bear firearms on the one hand but upholds a right for the same state legislatures to prohibit all abortions, even […]
Darragh O’Brien has the fate of the Government in his hands
Darragh O’Brien is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. That is a difficult brief for any politician these days. He has his hands full with a soaring inflation rate, an expanding population, a shortage of homes, high rents, huge delays in building large-scale residential developments, spiralling building costs, and apparent inability of state […]
Tories realising that Johnson has led them into political wilderness
Boris Johnson has appealed to Tory MPs to “draw a line” and let him get on with the job. Drawing a line is derived from the phrase “drawing a line in the sand” – a fixing of a notional boundary. The problem for Boris is that there isn’t even sand to have a line drawn […]