It’s not just Brexit that has deepened society’s divisions

At the ipaper  With the appalling letter-bomb campaign in New York and following the divisive Kavanaugh row, political polarisation seems to have become an existential issue in the US. Yet there are plenty of reasons to believe that here in the UK we might be following this route, a division triggered by the 2016 referendum. The extent to which the vote has created new political identities in such a short space of time is revolutionary. A new report this… Read on



Everyone loses in the clash between liberalism and democracy


A Tale of Two Brexits


Brexit: The boredom of living through ‘interesting times’ 

At Spectator Coffee House Robert Tombs, author of the majestic The English and their History, is writing in the latest magazine about how Brexit has become the trigger for a new culture war in Britain. He likens it to the sectarian arguments of the 18th century, pointing out that: ‘When I hear prominent Remainers unquestioningly supporting the demands of the EU Commission, however incoherent and excessive, I cannot but remember the opposition leader Charles James Fox happily admitting… Read on

How many Remainers does it take to fix a light bulb?

At the Spectator So Russia launched some fake Twitter accounts, a tiny, tiny number in the greater scheme of things and which almost certainly had no impact on the result. Oh, but even if it didn’t swing the result, the argument goes, they still helped to polarise the debate. I don’t know about that; quite a few people have spent the last 18 months tweeting about how they can’t wait for Leave voters to die of old age, or… Read on

I want to see how a culture war is fought so badly


The Week: Jeremy Corbyn’s topsy-turvy culture war

Me, in The Week: That referendum turned into a bitter and ugly culture war, a marked sign of the shifting from the traditional left/right axis towards a conflict between globalism and nationalism. Yet it has had a huge unintended consequence, too: What started as a battle for Britain’s soul between metropolitan liberals and conservatives seems to have left both sides exhausted and impotent and instead emboldened hardline socialists, viewed until recently as harmless relics of a bygone age. And… Read on

I’m a Leaver who would be happy for a second referendum

At the Spectator I voted Leave but if it looks like clearly being an economic disaster, then it’s ridiculous to pursue it whatever the cost. In no field does someone continue along the same course, knowing it will end in complete failure, whatever the consequences. It is true that there would be public anger at a second referendum, but there would be far more if the economy went down the toilet. There is also the fact that, while we… Read on

13 things we have learnt about Britain since the EU Referendum
