Hopi Sen

At least, that’s the inescapable conclusion that we must draw from the brouhaha and fanfarel that surrounded Ivan Lewis’s article for Progress this week. Poor Ivan must have wondered what he’d done. You write and article that says what a good government we are, how much better we are than the tories and how we [...]

Last night, myself and the other half went to a reading by Lee Child (A tremendously popular author of series of books about Jack Reacher, a former US army officer who likes toothbrushes, freedom and hitting bad people hard.)  It occurred to me during the Q&A that there are very few fictional political heroes. Excluding [...]

Hope you had a good Easter and spent it doing appropriate things to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We’re mixed up about Easter, aren’t we? Chocolate Eggs, bunnies (if you’re american), visits to Ikea, two football games and the death and rebirth of the Son of God.  Seems an odd mix even to an agnostic. Anyway, [...]

God, It’s two days since I posted, and I feel so guilty. It’s cause I only want to give you top quality me-based musings, not just rattle off whatever vague political ideas just happen to wander into my transom* I’ve been mostly finding the post offices debate unbearably depressing. Here we have the spectacle of [...]

“People want to know who you are, what you are like, what makes you tick. That’s modern politics. You have to do what you feel comfortable with. People want to know about your life…” David Cameron talking about parts of his life he wants to share with you because he thinks it will make you [...]

Alan Milburn and Stephen Byers were nearly destroyed as political figures by their reputation as Blairite “outriders”. Not because of any dark machinations, but because it’s always easier to blame an eager lieutenant for the challenges your leader makes you face. Many in the Labour party (and the media) were uncomfortable with what Tony Blair [...]

Last month, Tory MP Greg Hands wrote a rather scathing piece about the German CDU and Angela Merkels rhetoric about Islam. Hands contrasted the clumsy, surprising and ugly rhetoric of CDU politicians with the moderate language of his own Conservative party. “We in the Conservatives have come to learn that whilst immigration can and indeed [...]

Watch the first minute of this video for a truly terrifying picture of George Osborne impersonating a zombie. Eeeeek!* Sky News really shouldn’t expose viewers to horrors like this early in the morning. Oh, and just for a moment. Is Osborne suggesting a) That we should follow the US and introduce massive tax breaks and [...]

The news that Iain Dale’s new magazine is being funded by Lord Ashcroft (Majority shareholder: The Conservative and Unionist party PLC) highlights the importance of transparency when money and political influence meet. I’m not suggesting that there’s a Richard Mellon Scaife style funding arrangement for right wing bloggers and think tanks and Iain’s quite within [...]

No, not you newmania, you’re no troll. I refer of course to Tory Troll, who enjoys righteously ripping tory idiocy to shreds, and can y’know, write and stuff. He’s got some good video’s of Henely residents having a go at Boris Johnson, too.  Well worth a look. Welcome to the borother (and sister) hood of [...]