Boris Johnson is a cheat and a liar; we all know this, it is priced in. Even those who like him know it – they just see it as roguish and charming that he can slide away from the consequences most of us would face if we had his behaviour. To trust him at his word is unwise. In any case, his…
The current debate in the Labour Party about trigger ballots and open selections gives all members the opportunity to discuss not only how we select our candidates, but what kind of MPs we want. The Blairite revolution in the Labour Party promoted the idea that being an MP was a technocratic specialism for professionals with a privileged background. The gulf between the…
I am part of a small group of people that you can only get into based on an accident of birth. Am I a member of the Royal Family? No. Instead, I am one of a small number of people whose parent also happens to be an MP. (Though I’m not a member of the Benn family, pictured above.) How many of…
Britain’s Brexit battle and its associated skirmishes have dominated the news cycle for the last three years, and aside from occasional committee reports and cries of “traitor” from some quarters, this has forced certain issues, such as House of Lords reform, further out of the spotlight. Although the Labour Leadership last year reaffirmed plans to abolish the Lords, these have not been…
As a rule, I really don’t like Sajid Javid. He arguably hasn’t held a strong enough line against Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, denying the lived experience of many of his fellow party members and others in the Muslim community. Although he congratulated Sadiq Khan on his victory, he did not speak up against Zac Goldsmith’s disgraceful Islamophobic campaign against Khan, and…
Parliament is an institution that attracts deep disdain. It is home to a political class hated by its people. It is also a workplace. It is an archaic workplace. Its workers are all points of derision. Protesters crowd outside everyday on Parliament Square to wave placards that read ‘Parliament versus the People’. These protesters will yell at any parliamentarians they identify, who…
If we’re to move entirely past the rather ideologically bankrupt centre-left consensus that emerged in the aftermath of 2008, we need to get into what the defining issues of that consensus are — its main tenets and its main flaws. A good case study of this is a pamphlet authored by former Shadow Chancellor and notable opponent of the hard left, whoever they are,…
With the rise of the #MeToo movement and increasing calls for men to be held accountable for their actions, this year has been a turning point in the fight against misogyny, sexism and harassment. It’s been inspiring to see the strength of the sisterhood, in the Labour Party and beyond, as more and more women refuse to remain silent. The fight is…
