What a week it’s been for those of us who follow the soap opera that is contemporary politics! Published: 13 June 2023 We had the arrest over mysterious SNP finances of Nicola Sturgeon, erstwhile first minister of Scotland — a inept administrator but a...
I hope everyone’s been having a good Easter. Published: 11 April 2023 Apologies for the graphic detail, but I’ve been out of action for three weeks since I slipped on a wet pavement, broke two small bones in my lumbar region and incautiously accepted painkillers that...
My first instinct on hearing of the Windsor Framework, the deal Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reached with the EU, was tremendous relief. Published: 7 March 2023 Until then I could see no way out of the terrible mess we were in. Unionists had few friends and were...
By accepting his errors on the Protocol, the Irish PM is adapting to the new realities of Ireland’s politics Published: 3 January 2023 In his second chance as Ireland’s Taoiseach, a job he recovered in mid-December, Leo Varadkar has finally indicated that he’s learned...
Every political leader deserves a break, but this was a blatant dereliction of duty at a time of war Published: 24 August 2022 At first, my instinct was to sympathise with Sanna Marin, the 36-year-old prime minister of Finland, who is in a media storm over videos of...
I’m a bit of a politics nerd, but being an historian by trade, I’ve always been interested in the long view. Published: 14 June 2022 Often I find myself comparing contemporary politicians with those of the past, which is why I find myself so impatient with media...
Here’s a question to ask candidates on the doorstep over the next few weeks when you get tired of discussing the protocol. Published: 5 April 2022 “Can a woman have a penis?” This is the answer the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, produced last week, when...
I‘ve recently been reading too much about the UK-EU Brexit negotiations past, present and to come, and am delighted that at last some substantial work is being produced that answers some questions that have been bothering me for a long time. Published: 23 November...
Before I get on to two subjects with which I hope to cheer up at least some of my readers, just a few words about something else. Published: 21 September 2021 The media’s seemed to me to show extraordinary lack of compassion about the unexpected death of the prime...
I spent the best part of three days reading newspapers and posts and tweets and listening to hours of radio and watching video clips relating to the British government’s proposals to draw a line under Troubles crimes. Published: 20 July 2021 In phone calls, people...
