Politics and Human Rights.

There are plenty of people arguing that we should vote at the next General Election to "Get the Tories Out", or "GTTO", to use the abbreviation popular on Twitter and other social media platforms, voting tactically, if necessary, to achieve that goal, on the assumption that a Labour Government is always preferable to a Tory one in all circumstances. That makes a large, and wholly unwarranted, assumption, which is that the Labour Party is distinguished from the Conservative one by the policies it would pursue if elected to power, and these policies would always be better for this country and its people than those being pursued by the Tories. That, I concede, used to be the case. It is the case no longer. The Labour Party, under Keir Starmer, has moved so far to the Right that it is now virtually indistinguishable from the Conservatives in terms of its policies, to the extent that, if elected, we will see a change of personnel in government, but no discernible change ...

I recently engaged in a Twitter debate (any such debate is always a mistake, I find) with a Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the West Country, who is also a livestock farmer. I should stress that my remarks are not just addressed to her, but against all who share her views on this subject. An interlocutor in our discussion had voiced his disgust at humanity, given our record of pollution, destruction of the environment and other species, and anthropogenic climate change. I pointed out that our species was responsible for the current Sixth Extinction, and had been responsible for the extinction of very many other forms of life on this planet since our ancestors exterminated the Pleistocene megafauna. At this point, the Liberal Democrat farmer told me it was wrong to blame humans, that this led to "dehumanisation", and this is what the Nazis had done. I pointed out, in reply, that the Nazis were engaged in separating humans into distinct groups - some labelled ...

According to YouGov , in an opinion poll published in the Times newspaper, the Labour Party currently enjoys a massive lead over the Conservatives amongst the voters, with 54% of them saying they would vote Labour if a General Election were called tomorrow, as opposed to a mere 21% for the Tories, 7% for the Liberal Democrats, 6% for the Green Party, 5% for the SNP, 4% for Reform UK, 1% for Plaid Cymru and 1% for "Other Parties". Polling was conducted between 28th-29th September 2022, with a sample size of 1,712 - a tiny percentage of the adult population of Great Britain! See: YouGov/Times . One marvels at how so much weight can be given to the opinions of such a pathetically small handful of people. The poll doesn't just show a reduction of 7% in Conservative support, but a 2% reduction in Liberal Democrat support, which both account for the 9% increase in Labour support. The Greens are supposed to have lost 1% to the right-wing populist "Reform UK"! That ide...

Sir Keir Starmer and his Deputy, Angela Rayner, were recently cleared by Durham Police of any wrongdoing in relation to a party held in that city during a COVID19 lockdown in 2021, and not fined, as the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and former Chancellor of the Exchequer (and now Tory leadership candidate) Rishi Sunak, were over a party at 10 Downing Street, which was in breach of COVID19 regulations. Starmer and Rayner had both promised to resign from their positions if they were found to be in breach of regulations and fined, in contrast to Johnson and Sunak, who did not, but this, of course, proved to be unnecessary. Starmer's and Rayner's positions in the Labour Party are thus unchallenged, and seemingly unchallengeable. The Left despises them, and the feeling is mutual, but the Centre and Right of the Party seem content with their leadership, which is a pity, for they are being led like lambs to the proverbial slaughter. As I have already noted, the 10.2% national swing f...

According to YouGov , in its most recent opinion poll (conducted 15-16th June 2022, and published on the 17th), if there was a General Election tomorrow - which, of course, there won't be - 39% of voters would vote Labour, 33% Conservative, 10% Liberal Democrat, 6% for the Green Party of England and Wales, 4% for the SNP, 4% for Reform UK, 1% for Plaid Cymru and 2% for other Parties, a total of 99%, presumably leaving 1% who didn't know or who wouldn't say. As Andrew Rawnsley points out in today's (19th June 2022) Observer newspaper, Labour enjoyed a similar lead over the Conservatives in 2013, only to lose the subsequent General Election in 2015. The next General Election is, likewise, probably two years away. Again, as Rawnsley argues, ' A charismatic leader with the capacity to generate excitement can win from the centre-left with a cautious programme, as Tony Blair demonstrated in 1997. A dramatic manifesto of social and economic change fronted by a self-effac...