Uk politics

The petition to demand a second a referendum has now reached 2.8 million signatories. There’s an awful lot of people in this country who do not understand democracy; they can scream abuse at Boris and demonstrate in central London, write long anguished letters to the Grauniad and act like petulant children, but they still will not get their way. Twinkly, smiley Physics professor Brian Cox has asked (‘mischeviously’) what would happen if the petition reached 17 million. Well, Bri. Do the math. You’re supposed to be good at that. It still wouldn’t be enough, would it? Meanwhile David Lammy MP, who should know better, has insisted that Parliament take the fatuous

The UK’s EU Commissioner, Jonathan Hill, has resigned today saying that he couldn’t carry on as ‘though nothing had happened.’ This strikes me as an act of gross irresponsibility. Britain has not yet invoked Article 50, the two-year process for leaving the EU, and Hill staying on would have provided some continuity at a time of uncertainty. Supporters of his argue that his resignation was the honourable thing to do as Britain is no longer part of the team in Europe. It might have been right that Hill should have volunteered to move to another portfolio. But an outright resignation seems excessive and an over-reaction. Even Jean-Claude Juncker tried to persuade Hill to

My part of north London feels like the morning after England get knocked out from the World Cup. People look genuinely angry, and down the road in Islington the benevolent moral guardians of the current year have been shouting ‘scum’ at Boris Johnson outside his house. Boris leaves his house to crowds shouting 'scum' #EUref @LBC pic.twitter.com/V4hhXG18v3 — Charlotte Wright (@charlotte_bbc) June 24, 2016 After the most unpleasant period in British politics for years, and a sour and recriminating atmosphere now lingering, the Vote Leave team – who may be the government in waiting – have got to unite the nation to assure stability; politically, economically and mentally. As Tim

Alright folks, this is the big one. It’s EU Referendum Night, and bluffers everywhere have been training hard. We’ve all been talking utter rot about Europe for months now. To distinguish yourself tonight, you need to bring your A-game, especially since there will be nothing much to say until at least 2 am. Here are ten starter phrases that should help you through any Brexit-related discussion. But I’m sure you can all think of many more. Just remember that nobody really knows what they are banging on about — least of all our politicians — so be imaginative, be bold, and blag for Britain (or Europe, depending on which way the

For someone who has spent his whole life building up to the referendum, Nigel Farage has had a rather patchy campaign. On the one hand, he has performed reasonably well in his TV question time slot, exceeding the expectations of those in the Leave camp who were dismayed that ITV had signed up the Ukip leader to its referendum programme. But on the other, he has unveiled a poster that bears striking similarities to ones used by the Nazis and has been shunned by the official Leave campaign. Today, the Ukip leader gave his final speech of a campaign that he has spent his political life pushing for. At one

Exasperated MPs have called for their security to be taken out of the hands of their expenses watchdog Ipsa after struggling to install additional protection at their homes and constituency offices following the death of Jo Cox. Coffee House is aware of a number of battles between MPs of all parties and Ipsa over approval for the installation of additional locks and intruder alarms. Some MPs are particularly frustrated to have been told that it will take two weeks for the regulator to approve their spending applications, when they are worried about an imminent threat now. None wanted to speak on the record. One MP said: ‘My constituency office is

Who is really poisoning public debate? Who is it that has turned what ought to have been a smart and deep discussion about Britain and the EU into a prejudice-fest? I know we’re meant to think it’s the Leave campaign, with its cries of ‘The Albanians are coming!’ and ‘Oh my God, Turkey!’. Leave stands accused of fomenting xenophobia, of tapping into a ‘brainless paranoia’ among certain sections of the public, of ‘unleashing furies’. But what about Remain? The Remain side, to my mind, has proven itself just as adept at spreading prejudice. Scratch that: over the past few days Remain has proven itself better than Leave, a world-beater in

David Cameron put in a confident, passionate performance tonight in his Question Time grilling. At one point the Prime Minister broke into a forceful rant about Winston Churchill deciding to carry on fighting the war, arguing that Britain shouldn’t quit now, either. It was clearly planned, in fact Cameron rather have the impression that someone in a remote control tower had flicked a switch and turned him into Passionate Orator Mode, a mode so unstoppable that he kept talking over David Dimbleby until he had finished his little speech. It was like a more pumped-up version of the ‘that’s what pumps me up’ speech of the General Election. This might