BY PAUL T HORGAN The first Godfather movie in the trilogy is essentially a tale of three betrayals. The first betrayal is by Paulie, a Corleone soldier and the Don’s chauffeur, who calls in sick, and thus leaves the hapless Fredo with escort and driving duties. Don Vito narrowly escapes assassination as he walks to his car, but is instead badly woulded, when, if Paulie … Continue reading Boris’s Banishment & the Business of Betrayal
BY STEWART SLATER There must have been times, as assassin after assassin plunged in the knife, that Boris felt like Mr Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express. But the fictional murderers did, at least, have an excuse. He was a gangster. Justice was being meted out. Boris’ sins (which are, let us agree, legion), seem of a rather lower moral order. Kidnapping and killing … Continue reading The Politics of Projection
BY STEPHEN PAX LEONARD Vaporised words linger in arid self-interrogation. There is an extended silence, a short sonata of raised eyebrows and then a meaningful grin. Ibbi, an Inuit hunter, sits in my freezing hut, patting his firm bulk full of seal meat. Implausible palindromes are whispered over black coffee, and jokes are shared about his embonpoint. Thin jokes, admittedly. Here we sit hour after … Continue reading Why Caring for the Environment is not ‘Woke’
BY STEWART SLATER How do you solve a problem like Sir Keir? With an approval rating of –48% in the latest Yougov poll, something needs to be done, but what? Perhaps he needs more policies – there is a plethora of think tanks which can supply those. Perhaps he needs to appear a bit less stiff – there are plenty of left-leaning comedians happy to … Continue reading Labour’s Poshness Paradox
CSM EDITORIAL There are plenty of positives out there for the Tories which are currently being drowned out by the Dominic Cummings interventions and dying Labour’s daily chant of sleaze. The Prime Minister’s popularity ratings, the vaccine roll-out, EU infighting, trade deals getting signed left right and centre, the hits being taken by the SNP and Sir Keir Starmer’s all-round uselessness as Labour leader – … Continue reading Call In a Super Cleaner
THE CITY GRUMP As government debt skyrockets, thanks to Covid19 lockdowns, naturally the Treasury’s thoughts turn to increasing taxes. Some think the holy grail is to seek out tax, which will be worth collecting and somehow be seen to make life fairer for us citizens. To this end the Treasury commissioned the Orwellian sounding Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) to come up with ways of reforming … Continue reading A Political CGT Blueprint
BY FRANK HAVILAND Doomsday forecasters rarely back a winner, but 2020 might just be their year. Anyone with a tenner on the end of the world coming by Christmas will be experiencing a nervous frisson around now, as 2020 has really stepped up its game. Tensions are also mounting at the Annus Horribilis Club, where rumour has it notable members 1914, 1929 and 1939 are … Continue reading Happy 2020
BY GARY MCGHEE In the context of the way in which a lot of people on social media are cranking up the projection of their own anxieties and frustrations about Covid-19 onto our leaders, especially Boris, I thought I would redirect readers to my last article on Country Squire Magazine. Boris is being predictably assailed from the Left (BBC/Grauniad and Remainers/Rejoiners), but also from the … Continue reading Wind in Those Necks
BY JAMIE FOSTER Last week Home Secretary Sajid Javid made a speech about extremism in which he singled out Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party saying they are not extremists. In what is seen to be an olive branch held out to the Brexit Party, Javid praised the Brexit Party and Nigel Farage for leaving UKIP behind when it changed to a “far right” party. … Continue reading A Brexit Party Coalition?
CSM EDITORIAL For Brexiteers the last three years have been as annoying as can be. We’ve had Project Fear thrown at us, a Continuity Remain backlash – thrusting all kinds of muppets into the public conversation – and we’ve had a Prime Minister who both thwarted Brexit and lost the plot. Maybe we should have expected blowback from the European Union – they need our … Continue reading Time for Optimism
BY ALEXIA JAMES Is Theresa May mad? Is she on a suicide mission of some kind? Seeking to cause as much damage as possible wherever she can? Is she playing a game of Opposite Machiavelli, where at all times one does the opposite of what cunning Niccolo urged for the prince? Does she have something against Democracy? At what point did voters become an inconvenience … Continue reading Political Suicide
CSM EDITORIAL The Conservative Party is split by Brexit – to the extent that Soubry and Wollaston may jump soon. The Government is an odd mix of Remainers and Brexiteers and so hardly the meritocracy of days of yore. Perhaps that can be excused in the run up to Brexit – which dominates everything political these days – but afterwards the Government should take care … Continue reading Vegetarians Don’t Eat Fish
