Category Archives: UK General Election 2017
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The McDonnell Amendment to change Labour leadership rules shows a fear of democracy
3September 25, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The Labour conference is expected to vote on a change in the leadership rules that would require candidates to have …
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Corbynism is impossible within the Single Market
Leave a commentJuly 27, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
In 1986, Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Act of Parliament that created the EU Single Market. He saw it as …
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Corbyn’s rhetoric sounds good, but does it help those most in need?
1June 29, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Jeremy Corbyn’s ability to receive rapturous applause in an echo chamber whilst saying exactly what people want to hear continues …
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The Conservative/DUP deal brings benefits that Northern Ireland needs
Leave a commentJune 27, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
As soon as the Conservative-DUP deal was announced yesterday morning the pre-prepared press statements were being fired off by all …
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This election was about education too
Leave a commentJune 22, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Lots of focus has been put on the young vote and the old vote. The older vote might have been …
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The 2,227 votes that are why Labour are pushing for another election
Leave a commentJune 21, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Labour insiders are at the moment arguing that they are on an election footing right now. They will be gearing …
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Why we should spend that ‘£350m a week’ on education instead
2June 17, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Just after last year’s referendum, a friend of mine commented that the Leave campaign had ‘missed a trick’ with their …
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The surprise University turnout explained
Leave a commentJune 16, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Hidden amongst the wailing and gnashing of teeth within the Conservative Party at the incompetence and arrogance of Theresa May …
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Is Ruth Davidson in the wrong Parliament now?
Leave a commentJune 15, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Theresa May would probably not be Prime Minister now if it wasn’t for Ruth Davidson. Jeremy Corbyn might have had …
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Brexit – can we put together a cross-party negotiating team?
Leave a commentJune 13, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Theresa May went to the country to ask for a mandate for her vision of Brexit. Despite the referendum ballot …
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Why Theresa May had little choice but to deal with the DUP
Leave a commentJune 12, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
There’s been a lot of hot air expressed since the election about the Conservatives’ tie up with the Democratic Unionist …
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How well did Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour actually do?
Leave a commentJune 10, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
They lost. They did better than people expected but they lost. Among the crowing at what happened to the complacent …
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Should we ask for the Article 50 process to be delayed?
Leave a commentJune 9, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
When Article 50 was written, is was made deliberately vague, as it was never really intended to be used. It …
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#GE2017 chaos: What happens now?
Leave a commentJune 9, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
This is the third hung Parliament since 1945. It is also the third failed call of a surprise snap election …
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What does the exit poll mean?
2June 8, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Exit polls have been roughly right since 1992. So the one we have just seen could be close to the …
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Who should I vote for in Ealing Central and Acton?
2June 7, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
I am lucky enough to live in Ealing Central and Acton, which is a (very) marginal constituency. It was prised …
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The strange case of the misplaced new voters
3June 6, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
When the voter registration deadline closed it turned out that three million people registered to vote for the 2017 General …
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London Bridge provides us with so many questions to which we have so few answers
3June 5, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Yesterday morning my two kids (aged seven and nine) were building things with Jenga blocks. We had just watched the …
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The folly of the Tories parking their tanks on Labour’s Government power lawn
Leave a commentJune 3, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
In the aftermath of her loss to Donald Trump, some commentators pointed out that Hillary Clinton might have won had …
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Why Labour Party figures need to know their figures.
Leave a commentJune 2, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Is it important to remember the cost of your policies when your main opponent hasn’t any costings at all? Well, …
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YouGov poll predicts a hung Parliament – could it be right?
Leave a commentJune 1, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Polling is a dangerous business. No-one predicted the Conservatives’ majority in 2015 and the EU Referendum result came as a …
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The proper case for free university tuition
Leave a commentMay 31, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The debate over university tuition fees rumbles on. Abolishing them would cost over £11bn a year. Labour has committed to …
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Corbyn vs May..when poetry met prose
Leave a commentMay 30, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Of course, this wasn’t really Corbyn vs May, as the latter has refused to debate the former directly. Instead, first …
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Jeremy Corbyn on foreign policy: why you should read it before commenting
1May 29, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
I am prepared to bet good money that many of the people who responded negatively to Jeremy Corbyn’s foreign policy …
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UKIP’s Brexit tests – any negotiation is too much
Leave a commentMay 27, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The launch of the UKIP manifesto was a chance for us to see them put the details on what being …
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Time to reconsider what Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘support for the IRA’ means?
Leave a commentMay 27, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The sudden focus on what Jeremy Corbyn has said and done regarding the issue of Ireland is unsurprising. It has …
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Why public finances cannot be compared to personal finances
1May 26, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Have you ever heard someone compare the public finances to personal finances? Have you ever heard the accusation that Labour …
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Theresa May’s u-turn on social care made her look weak and unstable
Leave a commentMay 23, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
One of the reasons I thought that Theresa May wanted to call the snap election was that she felt held …
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Lifelong Labour voters are switching to Theresa May, not the Conservatives
Leave a commentMay 22, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
As journalists have been traipsing around the country covering the election, they have come across a particularly interesting potential voting …
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Labour debt-pointers are risking their party’s economic credibility again
1May 21, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
I actually can’t take it anymore. It is economically illiterate and it is self-defeating and it has to stop. It …
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VAT on Private School fees to fund free school lunches for Primary pupils – the devil’s in the detail
Leave a commentMay 20, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The idea, introduced by the Labour Party, of putting VAT on private school fees to fund free school meals for …
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Conservative manifesto – May tries to get UK moving ‘forward together’ without committing to how
Leave a commentMay 19, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Well, this was the big one. This is the only manifesto that will have to be delivered. Therefore, there can …
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How the Lib Dems plan to make EU think again
1May 18, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Assessing this Liberal Democrat manifesto is an odd business. They aren’t even suggesting that it is a manifesto for Government, …
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Labour’s manifesto – bold and offering a clear choice about how we want to live
5May 17, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
I have to admit to developing a bit of a crush on Labour’s manifesto. It is bold and it offers …
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Why energy price caps will worsen the energy market for consumers
1May 16, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The energy market is a target for both the mainstream political parties. Both Labour and Conservatives have suggested price caps …
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The unintended consequences of raising corporation tax
Leave a commentMay 15, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Recent research found that in 1979, when Margaret Thatcher took over the country and the economic model changed, the workforce …
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If Jeremy Corbyn moves the Overton Window, it’s good for democracy
Leave a commentMay 14, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Over the next week, the party manifestos are going to be published (or in Labour’s case the second, agreed …
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How Labour’s 97 hamstringing should be a lesson to May
Leave a commentMay 13, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
During the course of this election I have referred a few times to the importance of Theresa May not tying …
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Why the Progressive Pact may need to be fact.
3May 12, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Two days ago I reported details of a tacit ‘reactionary pact’ in which UKIP voters were defecting to the Tories …
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Election expenses – you can’t prosecute someone if they haven’t broken any laws
1May 11, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
So yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service announced that they would not be prosecuting any Conservative MPs for breach of expenses …
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UKIP haven’t died. They’ve won.
Leave a commentMay 10, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
In amongst the possibly genuinely held joy of many on the centre and left of politics at the fall of …
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Why Corbyn could stay if Labour lose – part 2
Leave a commentMay 9, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The aftermath of the Labour’s landslide General Election defeat in 1983, on the back of a hard left-wing manifesto that one …
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Why Corbyn could stay if Labour lose – part 1
3May 8, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
The general consensus is that Jeremy Corbyn will resign as Labour Leader on June 9th. Some in the Labour Party …
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What the council elections mean for #ge2017
Leave a commentMay 6, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Tom Newton Dunn, Political Editor of The Sun, reported on Thursday that a Senior Tory had told him that he …
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Why the #libdemfightback might not deliver more seats
Leave a commentMay 5, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Rumour has it there were high fives in Liberal Democrat headquarters when Theresa May announced she would be calling a …
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Think the education funding debate is ideological? Think again.
Leave a commentMay 4, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
This is about real people, and the future of this country. The state primary school of which I am Governor …
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Please let there be no more immigration ‘caps’
Leave a commentMay 3, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
How do make a well-trained Canadian GP leaving the UK and going back to Canada seem like a ‘good’ thing? How …
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Theresa May – just not debate-able
Leave a commentMay 2, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
From the very start of this General Election campaign, Theresa May has insisted that it is about who leads this …
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Scottish #Toryfightback on the cards?
Leave a commentMay 1, 2017 by Paul Goldsmith
Have a look at the charts above. They don’t indicate a political earthqauke, like is predicted in Wales, but there …
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