Musical Chairs at 10 Downing Street

There have been many legendary comments made in the House of Commons, the primary legislative chamber of the United Kingdom, and Sir Winston Churchill is responsible for many of them. Supposedly, the old bulldog was sitting across from Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) and waiting for battle to commence, when a colleague remarked on the muttering from the other side of the House. “The enemy is restless tonight,” he said. Churchill looked across the floor and replied, “They are the opposition.” He then jabbed his thumb back over his shoulder in the direction of his own ...

Timing Is Everything

William Gladstone, the great Victorian Liberal leader, the most successful electoral politician of the age, believed that success in politics depended on right timing. This was ...

Parliament Without Power

It's important to restrict the power of government"€”any government. In Britain this used to be the task of Parliament, especially the House of Commons. Government was the ...

Boris Johnson

The Perils of Winning

"€œThe whole worl"€™ is in a state o"€™ chassis,"€ says a character in a Sean O"€™Casey play. By "€œchassis"€ he meant "€œchaos,"€ but "€œchassis,"€ ...

Houses of Parliament, London

Will There Always Be an England?

In his op-ed in The Washington Post, Chris Grayling, leader of the House of Commons, made the case for British withdrawal from the European Union—in terms Americans can ...

David Cameron

The Cynosure of Rightwing Hopes

Just after 10pm last Thursday, the BBC was allowed to broadcast the results of the exit poll it had been conducting outside voting stations during election day. Its conclusion ...

Nicola Sturgeon

Change for Change’s Sake

Britain's new multi-party politics has pundits and bookies salivating at the prospect of minority governments, hung parliaments, awkward alliances, and kingmakers after the May ...

The Reign of John Bercow

The Speaker of the House of Commons is the most powerful commoner in the United Kingdom. On the 26th of March, an attempt to change the rules for electing the Speaker of the House ...

James Goad

An Interview With James Goad

James Goad is the Chairman of the Worcester City branch of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Despite the best efforts of many to dismiss the UKIP as a "€œfringe"€ ...

Scottish Independence Is Crap

"€œSee, if you was Billy Connolly sitting right there,"€ said the Winston Churchill doppelganger beside me in a Glasgow pub, "€œAh"€™d fuckin"€™ stab ye."€ I was ...

Let Us Have Gay Marriage, But not Yet

I have never shared or understood the moral prejudice against homosexual acts. Even as a boy, I thought the legal penalties were unjust. A quarter of a century ago, I wrote an ...

In Defense of English Civilization

We know that England is under attack, and from its own ruling class. Before we can speak of defense, we need to understand the reasons for the attack. This is not an attack on ...

The Shriveling Scottish Identity

When Scotland and England were united formally in 1707, the Scottish Earl of Seafield remarked in smug satisfaction, "€œThere's the end of an auld sang."€ But if the Scottish ...

Eric Joyce MP

Eric Joyce’s Hands-On Politics 

On Tuesday February 22nd, police were called to the Strangers"€™ Bar in the House of Commons to remove a man who had allegedly gone berserk, assaulting several others and ...


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