Tag: eu referendum

“Ballots, butts and Battlestar Galactica” – ten years on from the AV referendum

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the AV referendum, and I felt I should mark the date somehow. For me, the AV referendum was the event that finally broke me, in terms of my political career. It’s possible that if I hadn’t had such an awful experience being involved in Yes to Fairer Votes I… Continue reading “Ballots, butts and Battlestar Galactica” – ten years on from the AV referendum

Brexit and the austerity paradox

An American is trying to sell his car to recover the money lost in the Stock Exchange crash. New York, October 1929 (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Here’s a conundrum. I think it is widely understood now that at least one major factor for why the Remain side lost in the EU referendum campaign was that a significant number of people in the poorest parts of the country did not feel that they enjoyed any of the economic benefits of being a… Continue reading Brexit and the austerity paradox

Brexit: if you think Corbyn is the problem, you haven’t been paying attention

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: Jeremy Corbyn is announced as the new leader of the Labour Party at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre on September 12, 2015 in London, England. Mr Corbyn was announced as the new Labour leader today following three months of campaigning against fellow candidates ministers Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham and shadow minister Liz Kendall. The leadership contest comes after Ed Miliband's resignation following the general election defeat in May. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

I don’t think I’ve ever been as appalled by UK politics as I am at this point. That the Leave campaign won the referendum on a pack of lies is a fact in this post-fact world that even its own leaders have implicitly acknowledged by their equivocations, downcast faces and vanishing acts. We are in… Continue reading Brexit: if you think Corbyn is the problem, you haven’t been paying attention