Labour HQ will be asking themselves two questions today: Can we stop this from being a Brexit election and should we try?
It seems from the outset that the answer to the first question is likely to be no. That makes the second part redundant.
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When people ask me what my favourite book is, I always say The Women’s Room. It is definitely the book that has made the biggest impression on my life and thinking. But it isn’t the book I read most often. The book I return to like an old friend, year in, year out, is a daft potboiler called Fortunes. It’s a rivalry between stepsisters vying to inherit an auction house. It’s silly and frivolous and wonderful.
Read MoreDavid Cameron used to describe himself as the heir to Blair. In some facile ways this was true. They both had an approach to politics that was more about media management than a commitment to an ideology. They were both fairly proud centrists – on the internal edges of the places where their parties met the country. While on domestic economic policy they differed somewhat – particularly after the 2008 crash which Cameron used to undo much of Blair’s previous investment instincts – on domestic social policy areas like gay rights, Cameron delighted in going against the small c instincts of the Conservatives.
Read MoreThe Queen’s Speech was delivered today in a clear pre-election bid by Boris Johnson. However, over a third of the 26 bills announced are post-Brexit fixes.
There will also be new regimes for agriculture, fisheries and the end of Freedom of Movement. A bill will also allow for the UK to arrest criminals subject to warrants from ‘trusted countries’ – which will replace the EU arrest warrant. However, it is unclear if and how this would be reciprocal.
Read MoreIf all the world’s a stage, that clearly includes my kitchen and living room. And so it was earlier this month, when my flat became an immersive theatre venue for a night as I hosted a preview of Any One Thing’s latest production Souvenir.
Read MoreNearly 200 women staged a breastfeeding sit-in outside Downing Street Thursday as part of the ongoing Extinction Rebellion protests.
A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said “This is an action that shows that at the heart of this is the most basic of instincts: to protect our young, the protect the most vulnerable – the next generation.”
Read MoreWhen I was invited to attend a week-long festival of Ukrainian and Polish theatre in Poznan, I was slightly nervous. I don’t speak either language and so reviewing would be a tough gig. But on the other hand, how often do you get an opportunity to travel and challenge yourself in this way?
Read MoreWillpower is a strange and complicated concept – especially when it comes to losing weight. Those who don’t lose weight are judged not to have it – and judged constantly.
It is rarely a trait that people fully understand themselves, yet it is an attribute that is conferred on them. I have lost weight, therefore I have willpower. I am, it is concluded, morally superior to those who have not; I have some quality they don’t.
Read MoreStudent politics barely matter to most students and really shouldn’t matter to anyone more than two years out of university or college. Anyone who thinks too much about the complex voting system of a student organisation they've long since left is not the kind of person you want to be stuck with at a party.
Read MoreAs I sit down with Kamila Siwinska there is glorious late summer sunshine outside the Teatr Polski in Poznan it is the last day of the Close Strangers festival. Actors nearby are rehearsing lines for their last show while drinking strong black coffee. The theatre is a bustle of activity and preparation for their last show and most ambitious production as well as preparing for their critically acclaimed Hamlet which starts as soon as the festival ends. No rest for Teatr Polski – not sleep nor chance to dream.
Read Moremeet Agata Siwiak in the glamorous downstairs bar and cabaret space at Teatr Polski in Poznan. It is the second day of the festival for which she is the artistic director, The ‘Close Strangers’ festival – which is putting on plays every night for a week either about the Ukrainian experience in Poland or by Ukrainian artists – in their own language and translated into Polish through subtitles.
Read MoreIs Amber Rudd a hero—or villain? There has been a lot of friction recently between FBPE-types who think Rudd is a hero for resigning the Tory whip, and her cabinet job, over Johnson’s extremist behaviour, and those to their left who blame her for a series of wider societal issues—in particular, the Windrush scandal over which she had to resign after misleading the house of commons (what a long time ago that seems).
Read MoreIf you ever got bored of seeing Ed Miliband eat a bacon sandwich, just wait until you see the mileage people get out of this one
Read MoreAs a size 14 I’m the typical shape of an average British woman. In fact, if you walked past me on the street you’d be more likely to notice my frizzy red curls than my figure. Yes, I’m nobody’s idea of skinny, but you wouldn’t think I was fat either - so why do I?
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