The commentators 22-10-14...on UkipIf calypso seems a peculiar musical form for a pre-2015 election campaign anthem, well, isn’t that the central point about Ukip? The defining quality of Nigel Farage’s ragtag army isn’t the racism or nastiness, though there are of course elements of both. It is the beguiling peculiarity of a 21st-century populist movement that seeks willingly to imprison itself in 1955.
- Matthew Norman, The Independent There is only one political party in Britain today that wants more powers ceded to the European Union and more migrants crossing the Channel. Its leader is Nigel Farage. He’d deny it of course, but the last thing Ukip needs is a lower foreigner head count or European reform because its stock-in-trade is discontent. Despair when other politicians can’t make everything better is the fuel in Farage’s tank.
- Rafael Behr, The Guardian ![]() Listening to Ukip and responding to what its supporters, a big and important group, are saying doesn’t just mean in some vague, general way, “listening” and being in touch with voters as a whole. It means being responsive to these particular voters, to this group of people with their particular views and demands. Views and demands that aren’t illegitimate, but aren’t universal either. Because the problem for the Conservative party is that the Tories already have their work cut out responding to other groups, whose views are just as important and valid but which pull in a different direction.
- Daniel Finkelstein, The Times In the corridors of Berlin and Brussels, a Europe without Britain is looking possible – although for those who advocate leaving the EU, the little Englander approach just won’t cut the Dijon mustard. Eurosceptics like me need to think carefully about how we craft the argument. We should avoid negative, anti-European messages and xenophobia, and instead instil positive images of the sunlit uplands that will open to Britain as a prosperous global trading nation free from EU directives and dogma.
- Michael Fabricant, The Guardian The EU, wanting Britain to be reduced to status of a province within its empire, is determined to deny us the fundamental right of deciding who can live in our own country. We are paying a terrible price for this ideology, as our infrastructure buckles under the strain of mass immigration, our public services are hopelessly overstretched, our living standards continue to fall, our social solidarity is undermined and the bill for the welfare system becomes unaffordable.
- Leo McKinstrey, Daily Express Thursday 25 September Judges for the Editorial Intelligence comment awards announced their shortlists today, with ten nominations for the FT, nine for the Times, five for the Guardian, four for the Independent - and two for SubScribe.
The Times and Sunday Times scored a clean sweep in nominations for the main award of commentariat of the year, which will be decided between David Aaronovitch, Camilla Cavendish, Daniel Finkelstein and last year's winner Caitlin Moran. Guardian's Jay Rayner was shortlisted in the food writer category, but said that he did not wish to be considered as that award is sponsored by Tesco. The awards will be presented on November 25. See the full shortlists here The Independent offered a Q&A, the Times expert analysis and comparison with services elsewhere. And both had charts, facts and figures. These were statistic-rich properties. That is not the way of the Mail. It aims directly at the heart, avoiding the head at all costs. With maximum use of adjectives and minimum use of statistics, it tells us that Welsh health services are a mess - and this is, it seems, entirely a result of the fact that Labour has been in charge of them for 15 years.
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![]() October 17
Lord Freud October 16 British politics October 15 British politics October 14 British politics October 13 British politics ![]() October 10 Isis and UK politics October 9 British politics October 8 British politics October 7 LibDem conference October 6 British politics ![]() October 3 Party conferences October 2 Cameron's speech October 1 Conservative conference September 30 Conservative conference September 29 Conservative conference September 26
War on Isis September 25 Labour conference September 24 Miliband's speech September 23 Labour conference September 22 Referendum fallout September 19
Scottish referendum September 18 Scottish referendum September 17 Scottish referendum September 16 Scottish referendum September 15 Scottish referendum September 12
Scottish referendum September 11 Scottish referendum September 10 Scottish referendum September 9 Scottish referendum September 8 Scottish referendum |