BY DAVID EYLES After the referendum and the General Election which followed it, both of the main parties stated categorically that they would uphold and enact the results of that referendum. In case readers should need reminding, this was to leave the European Union. It was not to play about on the edges, being halfway in or out; it was not to have another little … Continue reading Let them Eat Cake
BY DAVID EYLES In 1957, the newly appointed Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, wrote a note to Michael Fraser, the director of the Conservative Research Department. “I am always hearing about the Middle Classes. What is it they really want? Can you put it down on a sheet of notepaper, and then I will see whether we can give it to them?” There have been various … Continue reading Post Brexit Tory Doom
BY DAVID EYLES Right. That’s it. I’ve had enough. What follows may well turn into a Jonathan Pie-type expletive-riddled rant. I make no apologies to those sensitive flowers who might read this article and feel a little faint. That’s tough. Go and read Winnie The Pooh if you are feeling a little peaky. The thing that has triggered me, the thing that has finally caused … Continue reading Signals of Contempt
BY DAVID EYLES In the early part of 2019, it would appear that Theresa May (without any apparent effort) has effectively sundered the Conservative Party into two irreconcilable groups. The first group is of the party in Westminster, including all MPs, peers, journalists, special advisers and so on. The second is the party in the constituencies – the holders of coffee mornings, bring and buy … Continue reading May’s Great Divide
BY DAVID EYLES Thursday 15th November 2018 might perhaps go down in British political history as one to remember. More likely is that it will be remembered as only one of a series of skirmishes by the Westminster political classes. But by the end of the day, two cabinet ministers had resigned, and four junior ministers had done likewise. Initially it was thought that 48 … Continue reading May’s Vichy Britain?
BY DAVID EYLES In September, to great fanfare and publicity alarums, Chris Packham and George Monbiot released “A Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife”. This wide-ranging document claims to having no party political bias, but admits to being political and even controversial. The manifesto declares its intentions to form no less than 17 separate ministries for the management of the British countryside and seas. These 17 separate … Continue reading Do Buzzards Eat Partridge?
BY DAVID EYLES In an earlier article, I suggested that there is an impending electoral disaster for the Conservatives on the scale of the 1997 General Election – i.e. a potential loss of 40% of their vote and the loss of a huge number of seats. I also suggested that there are equal problems within Labour. In other words, the Conservatives are hoping that Labour are … Continue reading Tories & the UKIP Menace
BY DAVID EYLES First it was going to be outside in the street. The lectern was set up. The press pack were alerted. But it was only going to be two journos from the Beeb, one television camera and no questions. It was certainly not going to be a press conference. Then there was a technical glitch – they couldn’t get the power to the … Continue reading A Landscape of Fear
BY DAVID EYLES A rarely spotted phenomenon, sometimes acknowledged by one or two of the more astute political pundits, is that the Labour Party has moved away from its core of working-class voters. The leadership has now fully embraced the demands of its middle and upper-middle class hierarchy and has gone full-on Quinoa Marxist. However, the Labour Party is not alone, because the Conservative Party has also … Continue reading The Quiet Revolution
