In the wake of the general tripe important arguments recently promoted regarding backbench MPs’ roles in apparently initiating the Northern Ireland peace process, bringing detente to Palestine and otherwise saving the world, it seemed to the Centre Left important to provide some guidance on talking to terrorists.So, here is a handy guide to whether or not… Continue reading Why backbenchers talking to terrorists is not the same as senior politicians talking to terrorists: a primer
Month: August 2015
Look what Corbyn can do in twenty-four hours: now imagine twenty-four months
If current polls are to be believed, Jeremy Corbyn is about to become Labour leader, not just by a small margin but by a landslide. That is, as our own Atul Hatwal pointed out on Monday, a pretty significant “if”. For a number of reasons; protest voting in polls but not in elections, “shy” voters,… Continue reading Look what Corbyn can do in twenty-four hours: now imagine twenty-four months
This is not “engagement”. It is apologism
Yesterday I retweeted a Centre Left piece from four years ago, about the invitation of hate preacher and Hamas fundraiser, Raed Salah, to speak at the Houses of Parliament, a visit thankfully called off at the last minute, thanks to the timely intervention of the House authorities.I retweeted it because, unlike political nerds like myself,… Continue reading This is not “engagement”. It is apologism
On emotional spasms
“You call that statesmanship? I call it an emotional spasm.” Aneurin Bevan, shadow foreign secretary, 1959 Labour party conference Bevan’s withering lines, warning the party against unilateral disarmament, illustrate the fact that we are not in a new place. In the face of a public, for whom two world wars were still a very recent… Continue reading On emotional spasms