European referendum

Tory Uncivil War based on Europe but continued on everything else?

Turgon on March 28, 2016, 5:33 pm

| Readers 537

The dust has begun to settle on the budget and Ian Duncan Smith’s dramatic resignation: not enough that said to know what is going to happen in the medium term. The episode was, however, much worse than the Omnishambles of the 2012 budget. It revealed a series of fault lines within the Conservative Party that do not simply relate to Europe but the coverings over which are cracking under the weight of that juggernaut. The Conservative Party like any political …

It takes the threat to Cameron’s survival to wake Westminster up to the threat of Scottish independence

Brian Walker on April 3, 2014, 9:51 am

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Signs are emerging that the Westminster village, which usually treats north of Hampstead Heath as terra incognita, is at last waking up to the real threat of Scottish independence. The contrast couldn’t be starker between the obsession of the English right wing with a phantom referendum over Europe and the real one in Scotland that is almost upon us. The Times (£) reports pressure on David Cameron to ban Scottish candidates from the 2015 General election if Scotland votes Yes in …

Ed Miliband spots the gaping hole in the case for the Union. Can he fill it?

Brian Walker on June 7, 2012, 10:22 am

| Readers 43

With the fluttering of Union Jacks alive in the memory, Ed Miliband has chosen the gap between the diamond jubilee and the Olympics to widen the argument over Scottish independence. It’s an appropriate moment. “We’ve concentrated on shaping a new politics for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But some people in England felt Labour’s attention had turned away. That something was holding us back from celebrating England, too. That we were too nervous to talk of English pride and …