It’s becoming an everyday occurrence for a British prime minister to resign. Today it was Sir Keir Starmer’s turn. He became the sixth to quit since Brexit broke Britain in 2016.
We await the seventh, who will undoubtedly be Andy Burnham.
In this special podcast I talk about why Starmer’s failure worries many. The UK is now a country where PMs come and go with extraordinary speed while all the time the radical right grows in power.
My view is doubtless over optimistic. But it’s just possible to see Burnham uniting progressive forces in Britain to see off Farage and the friends of Trump and Putin.
Show notes
If you want to follow up arguments in the talk:
Here’s my interview with Arthur Snell on how the British Foreign Office never imagined that its diplomats would have to deal with a threat from America.
For more on Elon Musk inspiring race riots, follow this link.
I also mention the Russian-inspired attack on Keir Starmer’s home – full details here.
And finally, here is a piece from last year on the egregious cowardice of Tory intellectuals.
I mention at the end of the podcast that I want to expand the site. It’s doing really well, and I would like to be able to commission good journalists to write for it.
I know times are hard and money short. But if you can afford to subscribe, please think about it.
The cost of an annual subscription works out at £1.15 ($1.40) a week, which is good value, I hope!
Not everything is about the grim news cycle. As a taster, here are three long reads from me that step back to take a wider look at our culture. I hope you enjoy them.
All the best,
Nick
The first is on how Brexit drove England’s greatest novelist to turn on her country.
Brexit, Hilary Mantel and England’s endless lies
Timothy Spall as the Duke of Norfolk and Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC’s adaptation of Wolf Hall. [Credit: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs]
The second is one I hugely enjoyed researching, and which remains all too topical: how today’s right is imitating yesterday’s left by betraying its country
The BBC is re-showing Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, one of the greatest dramas of the golden age of British television. It’s an adaptation of the John le Carré novel, of course, which so brilliantly explores imperial decline by showing how fury at the loss of status propels members of the establishment to treason.
Finally for a bit of fun here is a piece on why language policing never works
Progressives don’t change the world by changing language
In developed democracies activists expend enormous energy on policing ordinary people’s language. It’s exhausting even trying to keep up.
ailure worries many. The UK is now a country where PMs come and go with extraordinary speed while all the time the radical right grows in power.
My view is doubtless over optimistic. But it’s just possible to see Burnham uniting progressive forces in Britain to see off Farage and the friends of Trump and Putin.
Show notes
If you want to follow up arguments in the talk:
Here’s my interview with Arthur Snell on how the British Foreign Office never imagined that its diplomats would have to deal with a threat from America.
For more on Elon Musk inspiring race riots, follow this link.
I also mention the Russian-inspired attack on Keir Starmer’s home – full details here.
And finally, here is a piece from last year on the egregious cowardice of Tory intellectuals.
I mention at the end of the podcast that I want to expand the site. It’s doing really well, and I would like to be able to commission good journalists to write for it.
I know times are hard and money short. But if you can afford to subscribe, please think about it.
The cost of an annual subscription works out at £1.15 ($1.40) a week, which is good value, I hope!
Not everything is about the grim news cycle. As a taster, here are three long reads from me that step back to take a wider look at our culture. I hope you enjoy them.
All the best,
Nick
The first is on how Brexit drove England’s greatest novelist to turn on her country.
Brexit, Hilary Mantel and England’s endless lies
Timothy Spall as the Duke of Norfolk and Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC’s adaptation of Wolf Hall. [Credit: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs]
The second is one I hugely enjoyed researching, and which remains all too topical: how today’s right is imitating yesterday’s left by betraying its country
The BBC is re-showing Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, one of the greatest dramas of the golden age of British television. It’s an adaptation of the John le Carré novel, of course, which so brilliantly explores imperial decline by showing how fury at the loss of status propels members of the establishment to treason.
Finally for a bit of fun here is a piece on why language policing never works
Progressives don’t change the world by changing language
In developed democracies activists expend enormous energy on policing ordinary people’s language. It’s exhausting even trying to keep up.
