John Oxley writes a newsletter about politics, history and culture
Sir Keir Starmer has broken cover on planning. In perhaps his most daring policy announcement so far, he has declared his intention to overhaul the planning system to free up more housing. When pressed on the morning media round he was clear – he would take the fight to NIMBYs and wouldn’t yield to backbenchers
It’s probably never been cool to be a Tory. There will never be a Conservative youthquake – they are the unhip party, the unkissed party. Voting Conservative has always been a mark of being a bit older, a bit more settled down. Like a sensible saloon car and comfortable shoes, it was something you eased
Downing Street’s latest initiative to boost the workforce is a curious mix of good and bad ideas. In the past week Sunak has said he wants to reform the benefits system to get more disabled people into work. But he has also floated the idea of scrapping income tax for the over-fifties. And by combining
The Conservative party faces a new challenge in the battle to win back younger voters – how to sell the party of aspiration to a generation that has soured on ambition. Articles abound on the under forties drifting towards professional apathy, from quiet quitting to abandoning the rat race entirely. Now polling has indicated a
Andrew Leak, the man named as the perpetrator of the petrol bomb attack on Dover migrant centre was, on the surface, an unlikely terrorist. Aged 66 and living in High Wycombe, reports paint him as a somewhat odd but largely harmless character. His internet history told a different story. Though he does not appear to
A few short months ago, Liz Truss dismissed Rishi Sunak’s business-as-usual managerialism on the economy. The former chancellor responded by constantly reiterating that her homage to Thatcherism, led by cuts to personal and corporation taxes, would unleash chaos rather than growth. She peddled belief while he dealt in realism. The grassroots preferred the former. Seven
Dominic Cummings’s response to the plight of the Conservative party is typically bellicose. He calls for it to be driven into the earth, the furrows planted with salt, and banished for eternity like some latter day Carthage. He sees no sense in reviving or reforming it, only blood-eagling it. It is a strong take, and
It is always interesting to read the Wikipedia pages of plane crashes. Thanks to the data recovered from black boxes, especially the cockpit voice recordings, the last moments of flights can be recreated with vivid accuracy. The most interesting are those caused largely by human error. In those final fateful moments, you can observe highly
