Tag Archives: United Kingdom

Apparently the Scottish Parliament has just refused to consent to Brexit. The Lib Dems, Labour, Greens and SNP all joined together to thwart the plans of those wicked Tories to undermine the powers of the Scottish Parliament. There is a peculiar logic going on here. There are various issues that …

I have been finding contemporary politics dull and uninspiring. It is above all for this reason that I’ve been struggling to write about recent events. We know that at some point there will be another election struggle between a rather daft, but reinvigorated Labour Party and a worn out Tory …

For those of us who may not have remembered, today is Battle of Britain Day, the day in 1940 the battle swung decisively in favour of the UK, Commonwealth and Free European Allies. It’s a day to celebrate victory over Nazi Tyranny and to remember the sacrifice paid by all …

A couple of weeks ago, I listened to an interview of Jacob Rees-Mogg by James Delingpole on YouTube. Mogg asked Delingpole who he felt the UK’s best Prime Ministers had been when Delingpole slighted career politicians. Upon responding with the standard Thatcher and Churchill, Mogg replied by asking ‘What about …

Britain’s contribution to World development has often been tarnished and diluted by those on the left who may want to pollute the brilliant work Mother Britannia has done in an effort to promote socialism.  Then there are those who attempt to create a narrative of horror and despair by describing the …

Politicians frequently say their General Election is the most important of their lifetime. Most of the time, they are lying or exaggerating. The General Election of 2001 was, for instance, not a particularly important election. This time however, is likely the most important General Election in a generation, if not …

“The UK will have to rebalance trade if they are going to grow their economy and the Commonwealth would be the first natural outlet for their goods” – South African High Commission A central tenet of any discussion or proposal for a post-Brexit economy focuses on trade and trading partners. …

The Labour Party’s genius plan to “unite the nation” by further Balkanising the United Kingdom The Labour Party and the British Left in general just don’t get it. With the honourable exception of a few Cassandra-like voices warning that the Left must learn to re-embrace patriotism in order to reconnect with …

Scots will have to face going through a second independence referendum and the sooner this is accepted the better. The vast majority of those who voted No in 2014 naively believed that the 2014 referendum would be a genuine once-in-a-generation event that would conclusively settle the constitutional question for a good 30 years …

Where are the zealots of democracy, the fanatics of liberty, the taliban of the rule of law, pounding the internet and social media with their passion and selfless dedication to their cause – democracy and freedom, equal rights for women? These ideals are hopefully common across most nations. The distinctions …

Sometime in prehistory a group of people arrived on our island from Europe. They were Celts. We know next to nothing about them or the people who lived here before they arrived. All that is left of them are the monuments they left behind, places like Stonehenge and Scara Brae. …

Introduction The main feature of living in a modern democracy is that nearly everybody gets to vote. As John Donne once said in a rather different context an election “comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes”. At one point only people with a certain …

The colloquially called “Edinburgh Agreement” was signed on 15 October 2012 AGREEMENT between the United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government on a referendum on independence for Scotland. The United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government have agreed to work together to ensure that a referendum on Scottish independence can …

Most people in modern Britain have little or no experience of visas. Either we don’t need a visa or else it’s straightforward to obtain one by spending a few minutes on a computer.  Most people don’t want to go to the places, like Russia or China, which require visas you …

As the report of Lord Heseltine showed, the essence of Britain’s energy through the Industrial Revolution was devolved decision-making at city level. The great town halls and classical architecture of many of our cities owe much to the deep-seated civic pride of Victorian industrialists. It is not only in Scotland …

Before finally deciding to campaign for Brexit, Boris Johnson prepared two articles for his regular Telegraph column. The first explained why he was choosing to vote Leave the other why he was choosing to vote for Remain. Many people would see this as a sign that his eventual decision was …

In the wake of “Trojan Horse” scandals, where schools in Birmingham were accused of plots to run them on radical Islamic lines, Cameron’s government decided to define and educate our schoolchildren in British values – “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the …

There is developing an extraordinary difference between Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon. It is impossible to imagine Nicola Sturgeon going to Washington and charming everyone she meets. While May has dignity, character, politeness and obvious intellect, Sturgeon simply doesn’t. May puts her points with force, but not with anger. She …

Every now and again someone in Scottish politics pops up and mentions the word federalism. This has become even more frequent since the EU referendum. Apparently the fact that Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to Remain in the EU, while England and Wales voted to Leave has caused a problem …

Again, the country has never been asked. Is Great Britain any less a nation than Scotland, Wales or England? Does Great Britain not have a clear identity – clear enough to this writer at least as will be discussed later – with a long (300 years is a reasonable chunk …