Our social contract – the ‘deal’ that makes us a civilised country – is under grave threat both practically and philosophically. And we are not talking about it. Practically, the UK is in a grave situation. We are in the midst of a serious cost-of-living crisis which will plunge over half of the UK population […]
It has been widely reported that Conservative Peer Baroness Michelle Mone and her family had received almost £29 million from a firm on whose behalf she had lobbied. She helped PPE Medpro to win government contracts worth over £200 million for providing personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic. As the Financial Times writes: “The […]
Introduction Before looking in detail at this Budget, it is worth reminding ourselves that the economy is the system we as a country have chosen to put in place to optimise the production and distribution of valuable goods and services for the benefit of our population. There is a wide array of choices open to […]
One good thing Truss did in her brief tenure as Prime Minister was to shelve plans to ‘reform’ the UK’s system of human rights. Under Sunak and Raab, the government is bringing back its much-criticised Bill of Rights. As the Law Society (a group traditionally at least small-C conservative in its disposition) remarked: “We are […]
We are used to inequality. There is inequality of height, weight, shoe size, intelligence – in fact every human characteristic you can think of. But most of these characteristics follow a normal distribution, which looks (at least roughly) like a bell-shaped curve. Here, for example, is the way that height is distributed. Only […]
Since 2012, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss have all been at the helm of the Conservative Party. By the standards of the UK’s other major parties, of course, they are all very right-wing. But how far right are they by traditional Conservative standards? From the perspective of traditional Conservatism, this government is dangerously extreme: Johnson’s government […]
Twice a year, the IMF releases its World Economic Outlook. The most recent was published on 11 October 2022. Some on the extreme right have been claiming that it is a clear vindication of Truss and Kwarteng’s disastrous Budget, and even that this Budget will make Britain the “fastest growing country in the G7.” We […]
There is a word we have been missing in the English language: traitriotism. This article explains what traitriotism is and why it is such a powerful tool in the hands of the unscrupulous. But first, let’s do a little thought experiment. Suppose you were leading a political party whose aim was to enrich a […]
The Conservative government works hard to give an impression of strength and determination: nothing we can say or do will stop it in its plans. And yet, over the last three years, there have been over 40 U-turns, of which the most notable was the ousting of Johnson, something that seemed impossible just 18 months […]
Last week, we wrote about Truss and Kwarteng’s Budget that “It is very clear that this Budget does not produce the change in direction the country needs; it is a dangerous doubling-down on the failed policies of the past, without even an attempt to safeguard most UK citizens.” Just one week later, that summary seems […]
We will not contact you without your permission. If you want to receive weekly or monthly updates, be sure to tick the box.
We will not sell or give your details to any other organisation without your express permission.