"No prime minister of modern times has been so deeply rooted in the Establishment. None has been so routinely tipped for greatness. And yet few retain such an enduring air of mystery".
Comparisons between Blair and Cameron were always overblown. Unlike the Labour leader, Cameron was not temperamentally drawn to change.
"Cameron had secured for his party "the right to be heard". But having cleared its throat and stepped up to the microphone, it appeared to have nothing much to say". It was the financial crisis of 2008 that was to give Cameronism the purpose it had previously lacked.
"Cameron affects to disbelieve in class; yet his career is a testimony to its continuing power".
"Like Thatcher & Major, Cameron has seen his premiership destroyed by the European question. No issue has been more toxic for the Conservatives or more corrosive of party loyalty. It has been esp destructive for Cameron, as it played to none of his strengths & all his weaknesses"
"As he picks over the rubble of his premiership, he will know that the worst of it is that this was a self-inflicted wound. Cameron once said that he wanted to be prime minister "because I think I'd be good at it".Sadly, it is a judgement that history now seems unlikely to share"
Can "everyday politics" breathe new life into the Left, in an age of populism & popularisation? Really interesting discussion on the @MileEndInst podcast, featuring @colm_m, @mds49 & @ea_robinson, inspired by Marc Stears' recent book: "Out of the Ordinary" anchor.fm/mile-end-insti…
As @mds49 noted, one challenge for the Left is that it rightly wants to talk about big ideas & heroic changes; but as soon as it does that, it risks becoming detached from the experience & language of normal life. I wondered whether there's a longer-term reason for that?[cont...]
Fighting breaks out in the House of Commons in 1893. The newly-elected Labour MP, Keir Hardie, describes the scene for the papers.
"As for Mr Gladstone, he was pallid to the lips. To him it must have been as the desecration of the Ark of the Covenant to Moses of old."
Conservative MP Ernest Beckett: "‘I seized one of them [the Irish Members], at which three others threw themselves upon me and by sheer weight of numbers bore me to the floor … A general mêlée began, members striking out wildly at each other". Hardie takes up the tale...
The Unionist Edward Carson thought a Radical had started it, and blamed Gladstone. Conservatives accused the PM of failing to step in and stop the fighting. (Spoiler: he was 83 years old).
No. The purpose of education is to give people the skills to live a fulfilling life.
Human beings are not just workers. We are citizens, neighbours, parents and friends - those who cannot work and those who can - and our lives are enriched by far more than our salaries.
Curiously, Conservatives used to criticise "socialists" for viewing humanity simply as workers. Keith Joseph, Thatcher's mentor, thought that the "economics first approach has aggravated unhappiness & social conflict". Angus Maude wrote this in a 1969 manifesto for Conservatism:
Even Margaret Thatcher thought that "man needs more than material things". The aim of government, she declared, was "to build a flourishing society – not an economic system".
Reading the 1893 Irish Home Rule debates, when Gladstone - half blind, deaf, 83 years old - carried his Bill single-handed through the Commons, speaking more than 80 times (often at 1 or 2am) & delivering some of the greatest speeches of the C19th. And all I can think of is...
Like Christopher Lee, Arthur Balfour knew he was hopelessly outmatched.
Unfortunately, Lord Salisbury controlled the Upper House, and threw out the bill by one of the largest majorities in the history of the Lords: 419 votes to 41.
One hundred years ago today, King George V opened the first session of the new Northern Ireland Parliament. "For all who love Ireland, as I do with all my heart, this is a profoundly moving occasion in Irish history." bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe…
Speaking at the close of the Irish War of Independence, George hoped that the Northern Ireland Parliament might become a beacon of reconciliation to the Empire. "I appeal to all Irishmen to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and to forget".
The King hoped that the opening of the Northern Irish Parliament "may prove to be the first step towards an end of strife amongst her people, whatever their race or creed" - and that one day he might return to open a similar Parliament in the South.
The Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, warned this week that "the rule of law" must not "be misused to weaponise the courts against political decision-making". This is an excellent response by @GeorgePeretzQC (read the replies by @DinahRoseQC, too). Some thoughts of my own follow.
Buckland frames the govt's reform agenda as part of a programme to “restore trust” in the constitution. That’s a noble goal, but in practice it means that one party is rewriting the rules of Britain’s democracy against the opposition of every other. That cannot be safe or healthy
As usual, criticism of the courts is framed as a defence of Parliament. It's an admirable sentiment, but if the executive is "the servant of Parlt", why was it shut down in 2019? Why is it not allowed to vote on cuts to the aid budget? Why was it sidelined in the Covid crisis?