The Chancellor must do the honourable thing and resign
- 13 Oct 2022
Politics, it is often said, is a cruel old business. You work hard for years to climb up Disraeli’s greasy pole. You toil away – voting for things you don’t agree with, supporting policies you think are wrong, being friendly to colleagues you can’t stand, being lampooned by jo...
Truss’s ability to win votes in the Commons is about to be tested
- 10 Oct 2022
Forget all the opinion polls, frothy newspaper headlines, hyper-ventilating radio chat, portentous columnising and the general spume of current political debate; there is only one real test of any government’s ability to govern and that is its ability to win votes in the House...
A reflection on the end of the party conference season
- 6 Oct 2022
So there we are. Finally the end of the 2022 conference season. I have been attending party conferences for over thirty years and in that time they have changed dramatically. From annual gatherings of friends and fellow activists, debating the big issues, listening to the grea...
For Keir Starmer and Labour it’s now or never
- 28 Sep 2022
Keir Starmer walked to the podium at the Labour Party conference on Tuesday with a stonking seventeen point polling lead in his back pocket, banks withdrawing new mortgage deals because of a lack of confidence in the government, and a rolling Sterling crisis. Not since 1979 ha...
Liz Truss is facing the most challenging set of circumstances in half a century
- 20 Sep 2022
The Queen’s death marked the end of an era in British history and for the last eleven days we have come together to mourn her passing and express gratitude for her reign. In Edinburgh and in London, tens of thousands came in person to pay a personal tribute. Many more lined th...
The monarchy has worked hard to retain popular support and survive
- 11 Sep 2022
“In the midst of life we are in death…” goes a familiar phrase from the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer. There can be many ways of thinking about its meaning but we are currently living through and witnessing at least one fundamental element of its truth. As we mourn...
The Queen’s legacy is to bequeath stability
- 8 Sep 2022
The Queen’s death comes as a shock but not a surprise. Although Her Majesty has been a constant in our lives for as long as most of us can remember. we knew in our hearts that frailty comes to us all. The nation joins with the Royal Family in mourning our Sovereign, as the cro...
The new Prime Minister must instil confidence and economic competence immediately
- 4 Sep 2022
Barring some enormous upset, Liz Truss will today become the new leader of the Conservative Party. Tomorrow she will travel to Balmoral and be appointed Prime Minister by the Queen. Political power is always fluid and since it became clear weeks ago that Truss was going to win...
Boris’s final flourish?
- 18 Jul 2022
It was clear from last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions that Boris Johnson had hoped that it would be his last appearance at the Despatch Box. He referred several times to it being his last appearance and gave a final valedictory hurrah saying that whilst he was not leaving a...
A Life-Long Springtime review – the inspiring story of one man’s dedication to his faith
- 5 Mar 2022
A Life-Long Springtime: The Life and Teaching of Fr George Congreve SSJE by Luke Miller (Sacristry Press), £22.25. It is all too easy to look at the Church of England with a sense of despair and bewilderment. Such headlines as it attracts tend to focus on disputes and divis...