COMMENT
— During her trip to America, Liz Truss was happy to be cheered by some Republicans who want Trussonomics-style uber-neo-liberalism.
UK Politics
OPINION
— In a recent interview with the News Agents podcast, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that she is no longer 100% certain that the Conservatives would not attempt to abolish the Scottish Parliament
Investigation
— For 17 months, the FCDO refused to answer our questions regarding Dominic Raab’s WhatsApp use. But, following an intervention from the ICO, they’ve finally come clean.
Climate Change
— Labour has accepted £12,000 from the UK’s largest carbon emitter, major polluter Drax. Why?
Analysis
— The prime minister’s pledge to bring integrity to public office could become a stick to beat him with – just like ‘back to basics’ became one for John Major.
UK Strikes
— Recent price rises are not due to higher wages but supply-side issues, including the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic, and Brexit. All in all, the current government’s intransigence on public sector pay is based on both bad economics and bad politics.
Long-Read
— Professor Chris Grey’s analysis on how the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Retained EU Law Bill processes rumble on undramatically but with potential for crisis and chaos, the idea that Brexit is dying, and thoughts on how Re-joiners will need to build and sustain a ‘big tent’.
Climate Change
— Tory-linked think tank appoints the author of books which claim that environmentalism is part of a “totalitarian” plan to control the public and human-made climate change is a “myth”.
Opinion Polls
— A majority of the British public is unimpressed with Zahawi’s conduct over his tax issues and believes that he should step down from his role as Conservative party chairman.
TODAY+
— The suggestion put forward by Sajid Javid in the Times that NHS patients should be charged for visiting GPs or hospital emergency departments is indicative of the Conservative party’s intention to “test the water for a different kind of NHS”, according to former Labour PM Gordon Brown.
OPINION
— There’s pointlessness, and then there’s Prime Minister’s Questions, where democracy goes to kill itself.
NHS Crisis
— Even if many challenges remain, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the NHS crisis.
UK Politics
— Sir Keir Starmer argues that the SNP are using the Gender Recognition Bill to distract from pressing issues in Scotland, and accuses the Tories of using it as a tool to divide people and play politics.
Housing
— The number of homes with serious hazards has been nearly halved, but improvements have slowed and may now be in reverse.
COVID-19 & Misinformation
— The COVID vaccination programme had saved 19.8 million lives globally. Yet anti-vaxxers distract the discussion over vaccine injuries with comments promoting anti-vaccine tropes, misinformation, and abuse.
UK Politics
— The public still does not know what Keir Starmer and the Labour party stand for. Inspiration could come from a surprising source.
