Labour’s Radical Meritocracy

31 July 2023 Rob Watson 0

Merit is a value system that recognises and rewards individual qualities such as talent, intelligence, skills, and effort. It is a principle that underpins a fair and equitable society by rewarding individuals based on their demonstrated abilities, qualifications, and contributions, rather than on factors such as wealth, social class, or family connections. In a merit-based […]

Foundational Principles of Identity in UK

23 July 2023 Rob Watson 0

Diane Abbott, a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, was suspended from the party after suggesting that Jewish people do not face racism, but instead, she argued, suffer prejudice similar to “redheads”. Her remarks were widely condemned, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews calling her letter “disgraceful” and […]

It’s The Quality Of Our Lives That Matters Not The Cost.

31 January 2023 Rob Watson 0

If the UK were following its post-war economic trend, the average household would now be forty percent better off than at present. This is the reality of the UK’s absolute decline, and is the subject of a scathing report by economic historians Adam Tooze and Brad DeLong, which details how the UK is decoupling from […]

Labour Should Set Its Own Spending Agenda

21 November 2022 Rob Watson 0

Following the budget last week, in which Richie Sunak and Jeremy Hunt massively increased taxes to pay for their parties cumulative incompetence, some commentators suggested that the delayed spending cuts outlined by Hunt would be a trap that Labour would find it difficult to avoid. The bulk of the proposed spending cuts have been budgeted […]

Unpicking the British Cult of Narcissism

2 November 2022 Rob Watson 0

It is a truism in politics that the people get the leaders they deserve. This must mean that the British people – well, the English at most – are a bunch of delusional narcissists who have no idea that their inflated egos do not accord with the reality of their circumstances! Watching the political scene […]

Leicester Transport Plan Consultation

18 July 2021 Rob Watson 0

Leicester City Council is consulting on its Transport Plan, so I sat down earlier and submitted some comments. It would be good to see what other people and groups are submitting to the consultation, and to get a sense of what kind of discussion is happening? This whole plan is not ambitious enough. It is […]

In Politics We Need to Remeber That What Goes Up Must Come Down

7 May 2021 Rob Watson 0

Politics is a rough business. The worst job is the Leader of the Opposition. Sir Keir Starmer must be feeling the squeeze this morning as the Tories celebrate their win in Hartlepool, and left-wing Labour MPs collectively pile-on calling for a strategy change. Both the Tories and the Corbynista wing of the Labour Party feel […]

Brexit Blog – Who Speaks for the 48%?

30 December 2020 Rob Watson 0

One of the defining characteristics of the Brexit process has been the shifting of both blame and responsibility almost entirely onto the shoulders of the losing side. I voted to remain. I continue to advocate that the UK’s future is inextricably linked with the European Union. My opinion on these issues, however, has been continually […]

Brexit Blog – All I’m Left With is a Sense of Fatalism

27 December 2020 Rob Watson 0

At the time of the 2016 referendum on the UK’s future membership of the European Union, I was looking for a political home. After being let down by the Labour Party and the failure of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls to oppose George Osbourne’s savage austerity cuts, I was bouncing around looking for a party […]

Nick Timothy: Remaking One Nation – The Future of Conservatism

21 November 2020 Rob Watson 0

Flicking through Twitter last Sunday, I was prompted to enter an exchange with Nick Timothy, the former special advisor to Theresa May during the time when she was at the Home Office and when she was Prime Minister. Timothy’s Tweet was one of his regular reminders to his followers that the nature of conservatism is […]

Does Labour Vote For or Against the Brexit Deal?

15 November 2020 Rob Watson 0

If reports in the press are to be believed, we are approaching the endgame of Brexit. Well, maybe not the endgame, but the point when we are denied access to the EU’s single market, customs union, and other benefits of membership which expire after the transition period on the 1st January 2021. After a period […]

Disrupting or Consolidating?

14 November 2020 Rob Watson 0

It’s welcome news that the United States of America has a President-Elect, with Joe Biden beating Donald Trump in both the popular vote and the electoral college. I’m relieved that the psycho-drama that Donald Trump unleashed each day, with his Twitter rants, may be drawing to a close. Even as an onlooker from afar, I […]

Is Patriotism Labour’s Secret Weapon?

6 September 2020 Rob Watson 0

Writing in today’s Observer newspaper, Will Hutton considers what the challenges are likely to be in a post-Brexit Britain. Top of his list is the breakup of the United Kingdom with another vote on Scottish independence looking entirely likely. Scotland seems on course to vote for its independence as a nation and secede from the […]