uk politics
The Far Right’s Winning Narrative Superiority
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, September 7th, 2019 - 132 comments
Why is the right winning so many elections?
Brexit?
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, September 4th, 2019 - 20 comments
“The bill will attempt to extend the date of Brexit to January 31, 2020 in the event of no deal being agreed or passed through Parliament. If the bill passes Boris Johnson is expected to call a general election.”
Updated: Bill passed second reading. 21 Conservative MPs effectively expelled from parliamentary party. Boris wants a new election. Corbyn reluctant.. Blond clusterfuck.
Updated: And Boris Johnson just lost vote for a general election.
Boris’s big gamble
Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, September 3rd, 2019 - 57 comments
Boris Johnson has threatened a general election if Parliament opposes his self imposed hard deadlines on Brexit.
Can the Greens rise like the liberal democrats?
Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, August 4th, 2019 - 71 comments
Only 6 months ago the UK Liberal Democrat party was at a real low, with their leader resigning and the polls about 7%: same as the last five years. Fast forward five months from that and they are ready to become a major opposition party of opposition. Can the Greens do the same?
Boris Johnson’s majority is disappearing
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, August 3rd, 2019 - 30 comments
in England the Conservatives have lost a safe seat in a by election to the SDP. And from Ireland comes a cunning plan that would obliterate Johnson’s majority.
Fool me twice?
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 am, July 27th, 2019 - 29 comments
Boris Johnson’s ruthless purge of Cabinet and hard right shift looks like preparation for an early election. Reminds me of 1984 at home, as a right wing coup is on the way. He lied his way to Brexit – will it work again?
Boris for UK PMⁿ
Written By: - Date published: 12:52 am, July 24th, 2019 - 99 comments
67% of the 160,000 UK Conservative Party members have voted for Boris Johnson as their leader. An attempt to block him as PM has been circumvented by the Speaker. The Queen has had to delay her trip to Balmoral to receive him as Prime Minister. I’d have more faith in the Ukraine’s comedian. At least he can command a majority in Parliament.
Is POTUS up to the job?
Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, July 8th, 2019 - 275 comments
A senior Psychologist thinks that POTUS Donald Trump is not up to doing the job. And the UK Ambassador to the US says that the Trump White House is uniquely dysfunctional and inept.
How Brexit Party won the social media battle
Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, July 1st, 2019 - 30 comments
A review of the use of social media has suggested that the Brexit Party’s campaign was far superior to that of its opponents.
An October election in the UK?
Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, June 13th, 2019 - 27 comments
Boris Johnson declared his candidacy today. The Guardian’s Tom Kibasi speculates on his strategy – pick a fight with the EU, make Brexit the issue and call an election. Do a deal with Farage and save Britain from Corbyn. Will it work?
FiveEyes on our elections
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 am, June 12th, 2019 - 94 comments
Andrew Little’s letter to the Select Committee on election interference puzzled me – it seemed to be out of the blue and not particularly relevant to our system. Then I read about a meeting on the Gold Coast last year and it became clear as to why – FiveEyes pressure.
Three disturbingly different views on climate change
Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, June 10th, 2019 - 63 comments
In the same week that Donald Trump said that the American climate was the cleanest climate, Ian Dunlop, former chairman of the Australian Coal Association, has warned of massive social consequences ranging from increased religious fervour to outright chaos. And UK Chancellor Philip Hammond is questioning if remedial action is affordable.
What is happening in Britain?
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, June 8th, 2019 - 22 comments
In the United Kingdom politics is becoming very unstable with the surge of the new Brexit Party, a Conservative Party that no longer knows what it stands for and Labour also shedding significant support to other parties with clearer positions on Brexit.
Government under FiveEyes
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, June 7th, 2019 - 11 comments
Australian Federal Police chief Neil Gaughan told media after raiding the ABC that “if police did not investigate the leaking of classified information, Australia would no longer be entrusted by FiveEyes partners with intelligence that saves lives.” FiveEyes didn’t save Muslim lives in Christchurch.
Despatches from Surrealistan
Written By: - Date published: 4:15 am, June 6th, 2019 - 7 comments
London feels surreal. Joined the demo against Trump, in town to see the Queen, see off the Prime Minister, and plunder the NHS in the name of ‘free trade.’ Saw the play “The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson,” which might be prescient.
Mayhem in the UK
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, May 25th, 2019 - 68 comments
Theresa May has announced that she is to stand down as UK Prime Minister.
EU elections
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 25th, 2019 - 20 comments
The results of the European parliament elections are due. It’s the first election they’ve had since the refugee crisis, the Brexit referendum, and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. There’s a reasonably high chance that the far right are going to increase their share of this Parliament.
Five people versus a billionaire
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, April 30th, 2019 - 36 comments
UK Labour has released a stunning advertisement on what happens if you give ordinary people more resources compared to if you give a billionaire a tax cut.
Why we cannot afford to tolerate fascists
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, April 4th, 2019 - 130 comments
Inn the United Kingdom a neo nazi has been convicted of making plans to kill a female Labour Member of Parliament.
Brexit: May’s Remaining Options for Leaving
Written By: - Date published: 6:24 pm, April 2nd, 2019 - 28 comments
Theresa May is entering the Brexit death spiral. Her last real chance to get her own preferred deal over the line will happen in a Tory cabinet meeting overnight. But what are the other options?
UPDATE: May has now invited Jeremy Corbyn for talks on a soft Brexit. But will the Labour leader be in a mood to help?
The Brexit Fuster Cluck
Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, March 29th, 2019 - 97 comments
Watching from the opposite side of the world it is hard to imagine how badly the Conservative Party has handled it. I mean we are days away from the end and the UK now relies on the whim of shifting temporary alliances to determine how it will finish. Theresa May is finished. No matter what […]
More political interference on Huawei
Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, March 13th, 2019 - 24 comments
Here’s another one for the select committee reviewing foreign interference. Visitor from Britain Charlie Parton of the Royal United Services Institute was on Morning Report this morning telling us to avoid Huawei because they are Chinese and different from us. At least he does us a favour by making it clear the matter is political not technical.
Brexit Vote Live
Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, March 13th, 2019 - 55 comments
Theresa May’s final Brexit deal is voted down by the UK Parliament. What next?
Magicked-Up Weapons
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, March 11th, 2019 - 116 comments
I’m glad Anne-Marie Brady will get the chance to present her “Magic Weapons” paper to the select committee examining the last election. At long last it might get given some proper critical examination, of its content as well as it provenance. In my opinion it reads like a long list of the blindingly obvious, mixed with a large dose of conspiracy theory. It certainly doesn’t show much sign of the sort of critical thinking one might expect from an academic.
Brexit; Labour Finally Backs A Second Referendum
Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, February 26th, 2019 - 104 comments
Events in recent days have forced UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into backing a second Brexit referendum. Labour are now aligned with the majority of British voters, but is it too little too late?
Musing on independent breakaways in the UK.
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, February 21st, 2019 - 6 comments
Britain has an interesting political system, one that in many respects we share. The effect is to realise new streams of political effect without revolution. Usually not as a result of actual electoral success, but because it causes shifts in the positions of the major parties that form the governments.
The Independent Group Grows
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, February 21st, 2019 - 25 comments
In the UK, 3 Conservative MP’s have now aligned themselves with the 8 dissenting Labour MP’s in the ‘Independent Group’. What does this mean for both parties and how will it affect Brexit?
What China crisis?
Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, February 18th, 2019 - 52 comments
Claims that New Zealand is at a crisis point in terms of its relationship with China appear to be somewhat overegged.
Walls and Bridges
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, February 16th, 2019 - 54 comments
It’s been a horror week for two leaders and a leader who will never be leader.
TRP casts a wary and weary eye over three political zombies whose time appears up.
And, oh, Jeremy Corbyn.
Is Brexit A Signal Of Decline?
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, January 18th, 2019 - 103 comments
What if Brexit is not a threat to democracy as a system of government or a threat to liberal values? And what if it is an example of British democracy’s best modern exemplars to the world of institutionalised democracy and the rule of all under the law since universal franchise was first granted?
No confidence?
Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, January 17th, 2019 - 22 comments
Live feed of the UK debate in Parliament.
- What our politicians’ signatures tell us about their personalities
We asked a handwriting expert to analyse the scrawls of our elected officials. Here’s what they said. Recently I received a press release from the trio of ministers – Simeon Brown, Shane Jones and Chris Bishop – tasked with overseeing the government’s controversial fast-track consenting bill. The press release itself ...6 days ago - Livestream: 19,000 join as Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi reaches Parliament
'The energy, the power-it's palpable here on the ground,' an MP says as a sea of red, black and white flags sorrounds the Beehive. ...6 days ago - Education minister says kids should be in school instead of at hīkoi
But the son of a haka expert, travelling down with students from Huntly, says "this is all part of our learning, this is their school". ...6 days ago
- Basic rules for screen time at a young age can help reduce childhood obesity – new research
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ladan Hashemi, Senior Research Fellow in Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Childhood obesity is a growing concern worldwide. But in New Zealand it’s a particularly pressing issue. With one of the highest rates in the OECD, about one ...6 days ago - Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi mō te Tiriti at Parliament
Thousands have marched through the streets of a capital and to the Beehive. ...6 days ago
- Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity Says “Toitū Te Tiriti!”
Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity supports te hikoi and says Toitū te Tiriti! Māori never ceded sovereignty! ...6 days ago - Video: Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke reacts to haka heard around the world
In the face of criticism, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke says there was definitely a moment of 'what just happened?', after the House was suspended during voting. ...6 days ago
- Livestream: Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi at Parliament
'The energy, the power-it's palpable here on the ground,' an MP says as a sea of red, black and white flags makes its way to the Beehive and crowds line the streets. ...6 days ago
- Review: Camping is the hyper horny, extremely silly play we need right now
Almost a decade ago, Camping dazzled with four relative unknowns in a tiny venue. Now it returns, with an all-star cast on a bigger stage. Does it still deliver? The original run of Camping, on stage at The Basement, is the funniest and most kinetically bizarre show I’ve seen in ...6 days ago
- ‘We don’t even have a CT scan here’: Dunedin Hospital protesters rally
About 1000 people turned up to hear why building the hospital as planned, was important. ...6 days ago
- Biggest Ever Community Petition, With Over 200,000 Signatures, Opposes Treaty Principles Bill
The country has spoken. This Bill is a bad faith attempt to revoke the Government’s commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and it’s visible to not just Aotearoa, but the world. ...6 days ago
- Justice Committee Calls For Submissions On The Principles Of The Treaty Of Waitangi Bill
The committee is intending to complete hearings by the end of February 2025. Further decisions about hearings will be made and communicated in due course. ...6 days ago
- To build support, it might be time for the Greens to hang up their movement-style approach to politi...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Narelle Miragliotta, Associate Professor in Politics, Murdoch University State and territory elections held in 2024 have not delivered the electoral and legislative gains the Greens would have hoped for or expected. Of the elections conducted this year, the Greens’ performance was, ...6 days ago
- Australia’s new anti-vaping program in schools is a good step – but education is only part of th...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonine Jancey, Academic and Director Collaboration for Evidence, Research and Impact in Public Health, Curtin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Last week, the federal government announced a plan to roll out an anti-vaping program in schools across the country. The education program, ...6 days ago
- We pay less for houses in one-in-100 year flood zones – but overlook risks of more devastating flo...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Song Shi, Associate Professor, Property Economics, University of Technology Sydney If you’re buying a house near a river or on a floodplain, you will likely come up against the question of flood risk. We usually talk about this in terms of chance. ...6 days ago
- What was the deal with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra’s ‘situationship’?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Dunn, Lecturer in Classics, University of Tasmania Carl Gottlieb Venig/Wikimedia The Egyptian queen Cleopatra is often associated with glamorous beauty routines, deadly snake bites, lavish banquets and torrid affairs with some of the most notorious men in Roman history. ...6 days ago
- The cost of being: An ‘anti-capitalist’ barista and tutor renting in Wellington
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a 23-year-old explains why she’s been working since she was 11. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female. Age: 23. Ethnicity: Cambodian Chinese. Role: Barista, tutor, campaigner, ...6 days ago
- Regulations Ministry: Online tool can be used to share ‘red tape horror stories’
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- Elon Musk’s new job will bring tech ‘disruption’ to the US government – and history says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hallam Stevens, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, James Cook University On November 12, United States president-elect Donald Trump announced he would appoint Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to lead a newly constituted Department of Government Efficiency alongside fellow tech billionaire and former ...6 days ago
- AI for life: how sovereign Wiradyuri ways of knowing can transform technology for good
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Russ-Smith, Associate Professor, Social Work and Assistant Deputy Head of School, School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University Philip Schubert/Shutterstock From climate change to geopolitical instability to health emergencies, we are entering a period of momentous change. The technology industry ...6 days ago
- Live updates: Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi marches to parliament
Tens of thousands are expected to gather in Te Upoko-o-te-ika-a-Māui today, as the nationwide Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi prepares to arrive at parliament. Follow this blog for up-to-date coverage and reaction. ...6 days ago
- NZ media’s second wave of doom
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In his third attempt at constraining the drafting of new laws, David Seymour is seizing the controls The post Powered-up Regulatory Standards Bill removes role of courts appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 days ago
- With 14 community newspapers due to close, too many parts of NZ are becoming ‘news deserts’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Treadwell, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images When media company NZME proposed the closure of 14 community newspapers last week, the so-called “news desert” encroached a little further into the local information landscape. The term refers ...6 days ago
- New Zealand’s new ‘anti-scam czar’ gets to work
Millions of dollars are lost to scams each year. Should more attention be on the social media giants that platform them? Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in today’s edition of The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...6 days ago
- Dunedin Hospital rebuild: Rally stirs more opposition to cutbacks
A sea of Southerners filled Dunedin's Town Hall last night in support of the Save Our Southern Hospital campaign. ...6 days ago
- Thousands expected at Parliament as hīkoi moves towards the capital
This article first appeared at rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission.Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather at Parliament today as the final leg of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti reaches its last destination – but organisers and participants are saying it will not end there.At Takupūwāhia Marae ...6 days ago
- Treaty hīkoi: Commuter disruption expected as protest reaches Wellington
People on foot and in cars began making their way into central Wellington from the early hours of this morning. ...6 days ago
- Press Gallery 101: The House chats with Jason Walls
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- COP29: Surprise at lack of reaction to US elections
The first week of the global COP29 climate summit was remarkable for the wrong reasons, but with the second week now underway, a veteran NZ diplomat says the event is making constructive progress. ...6 days ago
- Pupils join hīkoi as te Tiriti is removed from curriculum framework
As a Wellington school leader takes 100 of his junior college pupils onto Parliament’s forecourt today alongside the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, he is freshly motivated to protest.The pupils are officially there to learn – the trip comes under ‘education outside the classroom’ – but Onslow College deputy principal Connor ...6 days ago
- Hīkoi heads into Wellington: ‘This is a opportunity to stand up and have a voice’
Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather at Parliament today as the final leg of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti reaches its last destination - but organisers and participants are saying it will not end there. ...6 days ago
- Treaty hīkoi: Commuter disruption expected as huge protest reaches Wellington
People on foot and in cars began making their way into central Wellington from the early hours of this morning. ...6 days ago
- Live: Hīkoi mō te Tiriti sets off for capital, tens of thousands expected at Parliament
Tens of thousands are expected to congregate at Parliament this morning. Follow the latest with RNZ's live updates. ...6 days ago
- Windbag: On the City to Sea Bridge and the power of letting go
It’s a Wellington icon, but we must say goodbye. It is time to demolish the bridge, argues Joel MacManus. Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge is beautiful and weird. Its design says something about what Wellington is and the way the city sees itself. It’s been the home of many late ...6 days ago
- Who gets to have an opinion on the hīkoi and who must remain ‘impartial’?
Newsrooms of old were apparently more impartial. But that’s only because everyone shared the same biases, argues Madeleine Chapman. Last week, the Herald’s Media Insider (AKA editor-at-large Shayne Currie) reported on some shocking news. Top TVNZ executive Nevak Rogers had taken annual leave from her job as chief content officer ...6 days ago
- ‘Extremely disappointing’: Watts blasts countries for blocking negotiations at COP29
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- Whitewashing te Tiriti out of education
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- Spark’s slump tars communications index as worst performer
Normally a nice, boring, stable utility, Spark has caught investors’ attention this year for all the wrong reasons The post Spark’s slump tars communications index as worst performer appeared first on Newsroom. ...6 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 November
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