BY STEWART SLATER Like George Nathaniel Curzon, David Cameron is a most superior person. His face is pink, his hair is sleek. He may even (for all I know) dine at Blenheim once a week. Unlike “Dear George”, Dave became Prime Minister but the former would gain some comfort, I am sure, from having been Viceroy of India and a Marquess rather than having to … Continue reading It’s Dave’s World
BY STEWART SLATER I have a friend. This might be hard for those of you who read my articles to believe, but there you go. People are odd. To spare his blushes, let us call him “Robert”. Robert is, like me, at that stage where others refer to him as middle-aged. He prefers “Late Youth” and expends considerable time and sweat in confirming this (to … Continue reading A Wasted Reshuffle
BY ALEX STORY A picture, as the saying goes, is worth a thousand words. A few months ago, one was taken in Yorkshire, in Rishi Sunak’s constituency. In it, the Prime Minister stands in the middle of a courtyard. Around him are a handful of conservative activists. He looks desperate for attention and affection, a cramped half smile frozen on his melancholy face – to … Continue reading Certain Defeat Over Potential Defeat
Dear Mr Sunak, The totemic issue of our times is freedom. All political nostra come down to this: Freedom to do what we want – so long as our actions do not physically harm anyone else. The freedom of the individual should be sacrosanct. Yet the freedom to travel, raise a family, start a business, publish and broadcast, to live unfettered is all under threat. … Continue reading Letter from the Countryside
BY ALEX STORY The sirens are calling us to surrender territory for peace. The Windsor Framework rips the United Kingdom apart and robs us of our sovereign dignity. Northern Ireland is to be thrown to the European Union wolves and subjected to rule by diktat. The United Kingdom will have to consult the European Union if it wishes to pass a law that might lead … Continue reading The Constant Lie
BY ALEX STORY As Mr Sunak and Mrs Van Der Leyen shook hands on a “historic deal” that will still keep Northern Ireland in the European Union’s regulatory orbit and strip the United Kingdom of her territorial integrity, the facts are now beyond dispute. Our politicians and bureaucrats, the former’s puppet masters, do not work for our common good. In their minds, as we know … Continue reading Wishful Thinking
BY STEWART SLATER Money is, according to those sage observers of the public finances Simply Red, too tight to mention. Inflation stalks the land, the tax take is at multi-decade highs and the public debt is, more or less, enough to buy the entire annual output of India, the world’s fifth biggest economy. It was, therefore, odd for the Prime Minister, never slow to flaunt … Continue reading Rishesse Oblige
BY IAN MITCHELL Readers wondering in amazement that Nicola Sturgeon has again put forward a measure which she must have known was going to be knocked back by the United Kingdom government need to understand her background and political personality. Her tactics with the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was vetoed on Monday night by the British government, have caused surprise. To me, as … Continue reading Gender Recognition Stooshie
BY ALEX STORY We live in the era of revelation. In earlier times, politicians hid their scorn from us, the people, behind smiles, heartfelt assurances and thick curtains. Betraying your country was, whilst par for the course, something that needed to be done discreetly. On the 13th December 2007, for instance, Gordon Brown, signed the Lisbon Treaty, the revamped and rejected European Constitution, alone and … Continue reading The Era of Revelation
THE CITY GRUMP In keeping with the spirit of the times, here is a warning: Some Readers may find some of the following content upsetting and the characters portrayed, disturbing. Having read this article, those readers may wish to seek help but I am unable to say where they may go for such. After the swift ejection of the Truss/ Kwarteng combo, the general consensus … Continue reading The Castration of Capitalism
BY EFFIE DEANS Politics is partly about opinions and persuading others to vote for those opinions, but it is much more about truth. In an election we are faced with a choice between Labour and the Conservative parties. Each puts forward a set of policies and personalities and the voters choose between them. It’s partly a matter of taste. Do you prefer the Left to … Continue reading In Liz We Trust
BY PAUL NEWALL If you watched Andrew Neil’s interview with the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, last week you will have seen Neil ask how much current net zero plans would cost. Apparently it’s circa £1 trillion. I think that is quite a chunk of change. But is this the only cost ? The current population of the earth is around 7 billion. The way that the … Continue reading The Green Massacre?
THE CITY GRUMP “Current existing systems massively reward high status well connected people” As usual Dominic Cummings hit the nail on the head when answering a question on checks and balances in front of the Science and Technology Committee last week (I sometimes fantasise over what could have been achieved if the Blessed Margaret had worked with Cummings instead of our current dissembling PM). I … Continue reading What’s Eating British Capitalism?
THE CITY GRUMP In 2008, the central bankers grew the Magic Money Tree, technically known as Quantitative Easing (QE). It is their opioid “gift” to all of us and most of the Western World has been hooked on it ever since. For a while it looked as if we could kick the habit but then along came the pain of the pandemic, brought to us … Continue reading Cutting Down The Magic Money Tree
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
CITY GRUMP I suppose all Dishi Rishi has to do for the time being, given that he has been squirting huge amounts of cash around in an effort to put out the Covid fires, is to stand and deliver platitudes and boy did he do that at the Conservative Party Conference. Take the following sentiments that could come from the lips of any politician from Albania … Continue reading Rishi – A Summary
THE CITY GRUMP The mainstream media seem to have fallen hook line and sinker for our photogenic Chancellor’s July 8th handouts. Headlines like “Come dine with me” and “Rishi Dishy” are everywhere, while the FT’s normally sensible Deputy Editor, Robert Shrimsley, declares “Mr Sunak presented a substantial and imaginative statement”. No he didn’t, it is all flash and no substance. Where to start? Okay let’s … Continue reading The Sunak Handouts
