Politics as Sudoku

For a while the Conservative Party leadership election actually got interesting, but now it’s dull again. The elimination of Liam Fox leaves a two horse race between an untried candidate buoyed by fantastically optimistic expectations, and a vastly more experienced candidate whose disastrous campaign have left him even further behind his rival among party members [...]

Saddam on Trial

Of course this has to be the biggest story of the week, but when it comes down to it, what is there to say?
We all know what a monster Saddam was, and there are countless Iraqis who can tell their own personal stories of the evils of his regime. And of course there are countless [...]

Who dares, surrenders?

So the idea, according to BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson, is this. David Davis comes a distant second in the final MPs vote on the Conservative leadership, thus eliminating Liam Fox from the contest. He then stands aside leaving David Cameron to be elected unopposed on Thursday night or Friday, thereby obviating the need for [...]

Time to Ditch Davis

And then there were three. David Cameron is now all but certain to be in the final two, as the great majority of Ken Clarke’s supporters are likely to throw their weight behind the favourite.
The question now is: Who should face him in the final ballot?
It is hardly original to state that the Conservative Party [...]

Supping with the Devil

Many years ago a well-known British satirical TV show had a spoof interview with a trendy vicar regarding devil worship. “In my view,” he said, “there should be a bit less ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’ and a bit more ‘Come on in, mate, and have a cup of tea.’”
I had always assumed that this [...]

Questions of Morality

Matthew d’Ancona in the Daily Telegraph has some wise words for the Conservative Party. In relation to the pressure being put on David Cameron at the moment to say whether or not he took drugs at university, he recalls the tactics of the Iain Duncan-Smith campaign for the Tory leadership in 2001.
At the time Michael [...]

The Rachel Corrie Fraud

It is seldom realised in the West just how much of the anti-Israel/anti-Semitic media coverage we are fed over here is not just biased – much of it is fraudulent.
A case in point would appear to be the fate of Rachel Corrie, a so-called “peace activist” who died allegedly standing between an Israeli bulldozer and [...]

Conservative leadership (again)

Rather a good piece by David Cameron, again in the Telegraph. Perhaps I’ve been too hard on the guy. I particularly liked this bit:
In foreign and security policy, the same attitude – a belief in the strength of our society – means a willingness to defend that society. But the measures we take must never [...]

Colourful Events

John Peel Day is almost upon us, and as it is now almost a year since the great man died, there is still plenty of interest in his autobiography. Not least in the details of his schooldays, during which it appears he was sexually abused by older pupils at the public school he attended. In [...]

Stalinist Health Care

For the attention of Mr David Cameron and any other Conservatives who may be tempted to think that a public sector monopoly in public services is not necessarily a bad thing: read this.

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