OPINION

Feeling special

— Rishi Sunak’s triumphant attitude regarding his successful Brexit deal for Northern Ireland with the EU may come back to haunt him. Will the PM’s smugness come back to bite him in the end?

OPINION

Escaping the vicious circle

— With the SNP leadership race in full swing, whoever emerges victorious must unite all independence supporters and make a compelling case for independence to win over undecideds.

Brexit

Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal: How the Stormont brake could block new EU laws from Northern Ireland

— After years of negotiations, the EU and UK have finally agreed on a “Windsor Framework” to reduce trade barriers between Northern Ireland, Britain and the EU. But beware! There are strings attached, including a “Stormont Brake” for the NI Assembly to pull whenever they don’t like EU rules.

COMMENT

Brexit Britain: Grow-your-own-salad country vs start-up nation

— What’s a sustainable ambition for Brexit Britain? Not to become a start-up nation but to grow your own salad.

UK Politics

Northern Ireland protocol: Why Tory backbenchers are rebelling over Rishi Sunak’s revised Brexit deal

— Members of Rishi Sunak’s own party could disrupt his biggest policy move yet.

Long-Read

How Brexitism is eating conservatism

— Professor Chris Grey’s Brexit analysis – placing Truss’s ‘essay’ and Sunak’s many woes in the wider context of a ‘Brexitist’ capture of conservatism, and how that could lead to a re-alignment of the political right.

OPINION

The Conservatives are gunning for our human rights

— The Conservatives are threatening our human rights. We need to be prepared to fight back.

COVID-19 Government Contracts

Government commits to publishing £248m missing COVID contracts after breaching transparency guidelines

— After breaching transparency guidelines, the UK government commits to publishing £248 million worth of missing COVID-19 contracts.

Long-Read

Three years of failure

— Professor Chris Grey’s latest Brexit analysis. Three years on, with public support declining, there were no celebrations last week – only lies, excuses, and the usual cries of ‘betrayal’. Nothing new, but as time passes, the failure of the Brexit project is simply inescapable.

OPINION

There’s no delusion like Tory self-delusion

— After 100 days of soul-searching, Liz Truss has decided there is only one person to blame for her woes: everyone else!

Corruption

UK slides in corruption perception index after series of political scandals

— The UK is perceived to be more corrupt than it was following the 2009 expenses scandal that rocked parliament to its core. Hostile states are happy to watch the UK move away from core liberal democratic principles.

OPINION

Brexit : Three years on, lies, deceit and delusion

— Brexiters don’t have any real Brexit benefits to boast of, so they have to make stuff up.

Long-Read

Untying Brexit’s toxic knots

— Professor Chris Grey’s latest Brexit analysis on David Lammy’s speech that was maybe the first time since Brexit that a major politician challenged its central, flawed assumptions. A small but welcome first step to realism.

OPINION

Holyrood’s death by a thousand Tory cuts

— In a recent interview with the News Agents podcast, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that she is no longer 100% certain that the Conservatives would not attempt to abolish the Scottish Parliament

Analysis

Nadhim Zahawi sacked: Today’s Tory scandals are similar to 1990s sleaze stories in more than one way

— The prime minister’s pledge to bring integrity to public office could become a stick to beat him with – just like ‘back to basics’ became one for John Major.

UK Strikes

Why refusing public sector pay rises won’t help reduce inflation

— Recent price rises are not due to higher wages but supply-side issues, including the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic, and Brexit. All in all, the current government’s intransigence on public sector pay is based on both bad economics and bad politics.