And then they shall see Robin Boardman-Pattison coming in a cloud with power and great glory
Engage with Extinction Rebellion if you have to or want to, but you’ll be doing so with cultists. So don’t expect anything to come of it.
Potemkin legislation
There is a mismatch between Government announcements and Commons realities. It cannot attempt reforms without risking them being amended out of recognition.
Nous sommes Notre Dame. Why cathedrals matter.
They have a value of their own which reaches beyond their function. They gain it not by doing anything but by being something.
The four routes being explored to oust May
Mass petitions, proposed constitutional changes, emergency and alternative No Confidence ballots…but will anything work?
Anger
Amidst verbal and actual violence, it is tempting to seek to shut down, say, Farage or Lammy altogether. But politics without anger would be impossible – and undesirable.
Should Conservative MPs and members vote for the Party in the European elections (if they happen)?
The polling and leadership election crisis stories raises three questions for both to ponder.
What proportion of Tory members will vote for the Brexit Party?
One association, in a safe Home Counties constituency, has found the answer is almost half.
Polls, Brexit postponed – and the slump of the Conservative vote
We seem to be heading back towards where British politics was between 2005 and 2015: in other words, towards more of a three or four or perhaps more party system.
Andrew Gimson’s Commons sketch: May is as brave as Boycott, and her deal will go through
There is more sympathy across the House for the Prime Minister than one would guess from the headlines.
Trick or treat? The Halloween extension.
At first glance, it looks like just about the worst timetable for achieving Brexit – which must now be seriously in doubt.
Screwing Scruton
His sacking is more evidence, were it needed, of the tensions that tear at the Tory coalition – and threaten to render it unsustainable.
Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: If the Prime Minister is so lifeless in the House, how can she carry conviction in Brussels?
May claimed the Government “will make a success of whatever the situation is in relation to Brexit”.
The ERG. Will it escape Tory gravity, and soar to another planet? Or sink back into Celestial Body Conservative?
It has grown from a group small enough to meet for breakfasts to one large enough to have its own whipping. That last feature is unsustainable.
The Cabinet must tell May to go
No way forward is without risk at this stage. But the least hazardous course is for the Party to step out soon with a new leader.
Be cautious when a watchdog bites its rivals
Fleet Street, normally a justified sceptic of men from the ministry controlling what people publish, is an enthusiast of regulating social media giants.