
UNTIMELY MEDITATIONS
some thoughts on history and politics
A blog on various political issues from a historically informed perspective
Back to 'normality' ?
Almost everybody is talking about returning to 'normal' after the pandemic, which, over most of the world, is still raging. However, the...
Football and politics: a confusion of roles
I hesitate about pontificating on a subject on which I know next to nothing. I cannot pronounce on the qualities of Mr. Southgate and his...
An update on Brexit ; or, a forlorn search for an 'industrial strategy'.
Nissan warned that a 'hard' Brexit could lead to their ceasing investment in their plant in Sunderland. Nissan is now staying. What has...
What is happening in Afghanistan now
I have written about Afghanistan in previous blogposts in April or May this year, so I will not reiterate my arguments. I will only point...
Batley and Spen: a warning for the future
Quite understandably, the Labour Party (having successfully 'managed expectations') is relieved at the result in Batley and Spen. It, and...
Message to Biden
Get that Voting Rights Act passed ! American democracy may cease to exist unless you (and the congressional Democrats) put your...
Coronavirus: what sort of disease is it ?
In the Global North, coronavirus might become, with the help of mass vaccination, a 'manageable' disease, like influenza, one that, with...
Vaccination in Britain : a triumph of socialism !
Please don't whisper it: vaccination in Britain is a practical demondtration of the value of democratic socialism. The vaccine has been...
Reflections on the Crown Prosecution Service
The recent collapse of the Hillsborough trial, attributed in part to failures in preparation by the CPS, and disturbing reports about the...
Chesham and Amersham: some reflections
The byelection result in Chesham and Amersham will encourage calls either for a 'progressive alliance' or for some less ambitious pact...
Burnham vs. Sturgeon ; or, the need for federalism
The metropolitan mayor for Greater Manchester has criticised the Scottish government for imposing travel restrictions without...
Speaker Bercow and Speaker Hoyle: a comparison
John Bercow was regularly lambasted for being an overmighty, biased and interfering Speaker, especially by the Conservative Party and...
Some thoughts about that laboratory in Wuhan
A number of apparently well-informed people are now coming to believe that a leakage from a virological laboratory in Wuhan is...
Some thoughts on Northern Ireland and Brexit
Why is there a crisis in Northern Ireland at the moment ? First, because of Brexit. If you create a border where none existed, you cause...
Some urgent thoughts on vaccination and the Global South
Here are three relevant facts about vaccines : First, Britain is stockpiling millions of surplus vaccines. Second, these vaccines have a...
Some thoughts on the problem of the private rented sector
The government's period of grace for private renters has now ended, and difficulties for many private renters, who can ill afford...
Gavin Williamson's latest kakistocratic act ; or, the government's 'education policy'
You have to hand it to Williamson: he lurches from catastrophe to catastrophe with a truculent insouciance, or an insouciant truculence,...
The Conservative Party and international aid
It is good to see that, finally, the government has done something which, along with the internal market, its backbenchers cannot...
Some reflections on Biden's proposal for a global minimum rate of corporation tax
Biden's fiscal proposal has the potential to tilt the balance against multinational capital and in favour of the nation state. It also...