The Mirror Crack'd

Like all foundational myths, 'the 4th of July' requires some qualification. The semi-quincentenary of the founding of the United States of America is marked today - a bittersweet occasion, especially under its current President - but the date is somewhat arbitrary. I hate to be pedantic (me?) but, while true that delegates of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies signed off the Declaration of Independence on 4th July 1776, the New York delegation abstained until receiving authorisation from their state capital, Albany, which came on 2nd August 1776. The Declaration proclaimed the Thirteen Colonies "free and independent States", no longer colonies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and, thus, no longer part of the British Empire.  But this was only the beginning of a painfully protracted struggle to break free, not the end. Years of bloody battles and skirmishes followed, with the definitive peace treaty only signed, in Paris, on 3rd September 1783. Even then, this was n...

Will Andy Burnham, as Prime Minister, be able to rebalance the country as he says he intends to? Speaking today at Manchester People's History Museum (a pointed choice of venue), Burnham set out his visionary programme not just of change but of hope and received a rapturous response from his audience of regional mayors and politicians in doing so. At last, after two wasted years, a clear path has been laid out for the Labour government to follow. The sense of relief and excitement in the room was palpable, even on TV. It's pointless asking now why this couldn't have been done in July 2024; the man elected then and responsible for the drift since has stood down and his successor-in-waiting has set out his stall in both philosophical and practical terms. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. All he needs is the opportunity to get cracking on delivery. The man dubbed 'the King of the North' certainly has impeccable northern roots and ten years' experience successfully r...

We hear a lot about dashboards these days but, in the political context, it's perhaps worth remembering the word's original meaning It derives from the physical board attached to the front of a horse-drawn carriage to block mud and debris ('the dash' kicked up by the horses' hooves) from hitting passengers. Maybe you should ponder this fact as your civil servants analyse the data for you in real time. In other words, you'll need to develop a canny strategy for avoiding the shit when it inevitably flies and make sure it doesn't stick to you. But I'm sure you knew that anyway. So, as you prepare for your coronation I append my advice to consider in the short time available to you before assuming the mantle of the highest office of state. I know Oscar Wilde observed that the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on but, unfortunately for you, there's no-one you can pass it in to - the buck stops with you from hereon in. (Luckily for you, you w...

So what the heck was the last two years all about and what follows now? Seven Prime Ministers in ten years is not a good look for any country and, to my mind, speaks not just to the governability but the viability of the United Kingdom as a political entity going forward. It's a question I've raised many times before but today I'd just like to focus on where we are now that Keir Starmer is going and Andy Burnham is about to be sworn in as an MP in the House of Commons. Like millions of other Brits, I suspect, I voted Labour at the General Election twenty-three months ago simply to get rid of the Tories. I wasn't expecting much and, in that, I wasn't to be disappointed. However, I certainly wasn't expecting to have my winter fuel payment withdrawn or to experience the problems I have had with Universal Credit since Labour came to power which I never had under the Tories. The bar of expectation was set very low and yet, even so, Labour under Starmer managed to lim...

It's going to be an uncomfortable weekend for the Starmer family, and not just due to the returning heatwave. In the immediate aftermath of Andy Burnham's historic Makerfield by-election victory, the heat now is of the political rather than meteorological variety and, in politics, as the adage has it, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. This weekend break, with all the key combatants tired and frazzled, offers a welcome pause for reflection. If Starmer and his wife, Victoria, are at the PM's official country retreat of Chequers, what better opportunity to contemplate their future than the rural calm of Buckinghamshire and the discreet comfort of an English country house weekend. Of course, contemplating the loss of this extraordinary perk of office might make it even more difficult to throw in the towel but all good things must come to an end - in politics usually much sooner and more unexpectedly than in other walks of life - and Starmer's time as ...

In my piece yesterday I wrote about putting the UK on a war footing, only to awaken this morning to news that the opening salvo may just have been fired. I refer to the overnight boarding by Royal Marine Commandos of the Russian shadow fleet oil tanker, Smyrtos, in the English Channel, to my mind not before time. Such vessels (estimated to be 700 worldwide) are responsible for carrying 75% of Russia's sanctioned oil, providing a critical lifeline for the Kremlin according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This UK naval operation was enabled by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and, besides, it's worth bearing in mind that there are no international waters in the Strait of Dover, where the Channel is so narrow that it is shared equally between the UK and France, with no international waters in between. Not that there is any legal impediment to such an operation in international waters, simply that the nature of the Channel makes it easier - and far mor...