More than our trust, Parliament has lost our respect

The strict new pay and expenses regime for MPs announced by Sir Christopher Kelly yesterday has been presented as a necessary, if not sufficient, measure to restore ‘the public’s’ trust and faith in Parliament: as if Parliament were still fundamentally deserving of that trust. However, I’d put it the other way round: the fact that [...]

Parliamentary sovereignty won’t protect us from the EU, because it’s already dead

So I didn’t call it right: I thought David Cameron would at the very least call a referendum to give a Conservative government the mandate to re-negotiate some of the terms of the UK’s membership of the EU. In the event, today, he merely committed to a pledge that there would be a referendum over [...]

The Conservatives must support a referendum on EU membership

For me, support for a referendum on whether, or on what basis, the UK remains a member of the EU is the only viable option for the Conservative Party in the event of the Czech Republic ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, as now appears inevitable. This conclusion is based on a logical reading of the Party’s [...]

Could a vote for the BNP be a good thing?

For the avoidance of doubt, I am not a BNP supporter. I despise their racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia. However, I agree with some of their key policies: restrictions to immigration, withdrawal of the UK from the EU, withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, and more accountable local and regional democracy. Yes, those last two items [...]

Salmond’s insistence on participating in a leaders’ debate throws the nationalist cat amongst the British pigeons

A truly comical row has broken out over SNP leader Alex Salmond’s insistence that he should participate in any debate between the party leaders broadcast in Scotland ahead of the next general election. The three main parties are insisting that as Salmond isn’t even standing for parliament – and therefore, by definition, is not a [...]

The Labour Party will never fulfil its calling with Gordon Brown at the helm

This article is cross-posted from Labour Home. Accordingly, it is orientated towards Labour Party members and sympathisers. I am not myself a member of the Labour Party. But I would like to see the Labour Party evolving into a movement focused on the needs of English society and people, which it has clearly failed to [...]

English Democrats: Are the BBC taking the monkeys; or do they just not give a monkeys?

Watched the TV interview with the English Democrat chairman Robin Tilbrook on the Daily Politics yesterday. Effectively, he was given about half of the five minutes allotted to the item, with the remaining half being given over to a couple of panellists. I thought he held his own quite well against some fairly tough questioning. [...]

The England Supporters Band may start playing some English tunes

I had a refreshing email dialogue with john@englandband.com: the spokesman for the brass band that plays during England football matches, and which many regard as a bit of a nuisance owing to their predilection for British anthems such as ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Rule Britannia!’.
Here’s what I wrote to him:
“John,
Could the England Supporters Band [...]

Real Change: Britain or England?

Introduction: Deliberations on British-constitutional reform must factor in the national questions

I recently signed up to ‘Real Change‘. This is a grassroots movement that aims to set in motion a nationwide debate, at local level, about fundamental constitutional reform, culminating ultimately in a citizens’ convention to collate and deliberate on all the options, and to come [...]

How to bring about constitutional reform: vote out all MPs!

There’s an interesting thread on the Our Kingdom site at the moment about the best tactics for bringing about radical constitutional reform in the UK. Anthony Barnett’s piece detailing seven possible strategies, which kicked off the thread, is especially worth checking out.
I have previously suggested in this blog that one possible tactic would be to [...]