The General Election: Where to Go Next
by Sean Gabb
11th June 2017
Since yesterday, I have changed my mind about the result of the General Election. Or I may have changed it. Yesterday, I was ready to suggest a National Government as the only alternative to chaos. That may still be desirable – but not yet. Because I want to go to bed, I will try to be brief. Read more
Ron Olden
All Governments have legitimacy if they can pass a Queen’s Speech and survive votes of confidence.
In any case, ‘dealing’ with Europeans is somewhat old hat. We are leaving the EU at the end on March 2019 and the least ‘dealing’ the better. If someone has voted Leave in the hope of getting a favourable (or indeed any) deal they have been sadly misguided.
We don’t need to suspend democracy, and have all ‘party governments in order to negotiate Trade deals. If deals are mutually beneficial they will come. Read more
Dave Barnby
Taking a calm look at the result as a Brexit supporter, I have the following observations:
Yes, Teresa May has lost a lot of authority, but she should with the support of the DUP have a bit of a majority. Her main problem, assuming she doesn’t resign or get ousted, will be keeping recalcitrant Conservative Remainer MPs on side. She is the only parliamentarian with the stature and experience to lead the country on our serious security situation (after all she’s run the Home Office for 6 years) and Brexit talks and she needs to stick to a clean Brexit and not water things down. If we remain in the single currency, customs union and accept ECJ then we have not left the EU and uncontrolled immigration and all the rest will continue. The only change is that we will still be effective tied but have little or no say (less than we had before) over anything the EU proposes or does (much like Norway). Read more
Theresa May: The Mummy Has Dissolved!
by Sean Gabb
9th June 2017
I was hoping for a Conservative majority of no more than twenty seats in this election. Instead, they lost their majority. They seem able to cobble together some kind of deal with the Ulster Unionists. That will keep them in office. But they will not have the blank cheque they demanded. They have not even the limited mandate I wanted for them. They and their leader have made a mess of things. Read more
NB – This essay is an entirely personal view. It does not constitute an endorsement or condemnation by the Libertarian Alliance of any candidate in the present General Election. SIG
Theresa May: The Mummy Dissolves?
by Sean Gabb
7th June 2017
Now it is a generation since his more orthodox followers were pointing nuclear missiles at us, it is safe to admit that Karl Marx was rather a good writer. His journalism, in particular, is always worth a read. Here he is, on the fate of the Chinese Empire as it emerged from the first Opium War: Read more
NB – This essay is an entirely personal view. It does not constitute an endorsement or condemnation by the Libertarian Alliance of any candidate in the present General Election. SIG
The General Election:
Authoritarian Hag v Fenian Scumbag
by Sean Gabb
26th May 2017
For the avoidance of doubt, I still intend to vote Conservative in this dreadful election. And, if Labour seems to be catching up in the opinion polls, so, I suspect, will enough people to give the Conservatives a decent majority. The general election is a rerun of last year’s Referendum. There is no other consideration that ought to sway anyone who is looking beyond our present circumstances. We vote Conservative. We leave the European Union. We hope and work for a realignment in British politics. Except for this, however, I would be dithering between another vote for UKIP and a spoiled ballot. Except for Europe, the contest is between an authoritarian hag and a Fenian scumbag. Read more
