While Labour promised change during the election it seems to have reverted to an old Labour ‘tax and spend” approach that is no recipe for the other thing promised ‘growth”. Hard to see in the recent budget how growth is going to be delivered if the overwhelming sense is that spend will be mostly in the stubbornly unproductive public sector. In the…

In Northern Ireland it is forwards into the past with Mike Nesbitt; apparently set to be the next leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, again. In Westminster Starmer has made a stuttering start to his premiership, while Sunak and Farage seem to have gone AWOL as opposition. Seems nowhere is greatly blessed with coherent leadership, which lends itsel…

This election seems to be one where no-one wants to make an error and most parties make the case for ‘steady as it goes”. Policy has been overwhelmed by trivia and side-shows. The considerable challenges ahead barely mentioned. All this in a context where in elections in India, in Turkey, in Europe, old parties and Governments that have believed th…

A private financial briefing summed up Wednesday's announcement of an election on 4th July as Rishi Sunak looking at the whisky and revolver, and reaching for the whisky. Unlikely the outcome of the upcoming election for the Conservative Party will be a clean shot, it will be much more messy. This episode look broadly at the electoral landscape, an…

At the start of the year the most vulnerable political leader in the British Isles might have been Rishi Sunak. Today, Leo Varadkar is gone and best forgotten, Jeffery Donaldson is gone (no comment), and there is Rishi in his Adidas Sambas still sitting around in the big chair. Change happens and events shape change. Reform may not be ready to take…

There is a lack of substance, and basic honesty in politics in the UK. Perhaps this comes from the search for a tactical edge with elections looming. Perhaps because few have an underlying compass by which to articulate simply, directly and honestly the context in which action needs to happen to secure national renewal. Economic for sure, but more …

This is the year of elections around the world. While America and Europe may see populism gain, in the UK it seems there will be little change but the party label. It isn’t certain how any of this pans out. There will be little time for the outworking of one election to be adsorbed before the next. 2024 will be an a fascinating year, offering a num…

The local Government elections in May and the more recent Westminster by-elections in England leave considerable challenges for political leaders in Northern Ireland and nationally, with wins and losses not being entirely clear cut. Everyone making the best of thread-bare endorsement. Meanwhile, into the public arena the political bogeyman that is …

As the Coronation marks the continuity of the House of Windsor and the stability and sense of place for the UK, in Scotland the House of Sturgeon is in freefall. Remarkable history all around. Meanwhile elections excite, or don't. Difficult to read too much into local election results because very often they reflect actual local issues that concern…

Perhaps expecting Gary Lineker to have listened to there recent "The Rest is History" podcast, in which he is financially invested, is too much to expect. Her might have learned something, though perhaps it is all a bit above his head. The St Patrick's political festival is in full swing in the USA, to where our expenses-paid politicians (and the r…

While Harry burns his bridges and asks the family to jump into the void, the UK and EU seem to imagine that if the word 'breakthrough' is used no-one will look too much at the detail. In both instances the truth is out there, somewhere, just not as real as you are asked to imagine. It isn't clear who the audiences for the outbreak of truths is tryi…

There is a date at the end of October when the Northern Ireland Secretary of State will call an election for the NI Assembly, or find some imaginative way to avoid national law and kick the can down the line. The issue as to whether an Assembly will be possible after an election is centred on whether or not an 'deal' is made between the EU and the …

This episode takes in a range of issues. Perhaps unconsciously it looks at how patience and focus on straightforward goals can reduce the greatest challenges to achievable goals. We look at the Queen's role from Empire changed to Commonwealth. How will Liz Truss fare in reversing the technocratic aversion to change and salami slicing the economy to…

It is a not so silly summer season, with the Conservatives looking for a new leader and the background of high energy costs, strikes, and war. No it is not the 1970s. In particular we don't seem to have the political figures that exude confidence and big ideas on the world stage, nationally nor, noting the death of David Trimble, locally.…

Seems like we are heading into a period with Stormont being put in storage, mothballed for now, putting on hold all those amazing ideas MLAs have been imagining to solve all the problems of the world. Waiting, of course, for the greatest fanfare of all will be Robin Swann's plan to do what has not been done in twenty years of devolution; to end wai…

We don’t have much to go on when it comes to predicting the forthcoming election. The polling is volatile and there’s no reliable data on how many people don’t know who they will vote for or remain undecided. We look at the three relevant battles; in unionism, in nationalism, and the fight for the so called middle ground. There’s a lot of talk abou…

For all the talk of crisis things seem much the same up the hill at Stormont. Sinn Fein wants to see legislation through, but also an early election. What they couldn't do with 28 pieces of legislation they'll need twice as much time to do with fewer, apparently because the DUP pulled Paul Givan out of the Executive and despite that not reducing on…

The New Year brought little cheer for Downing Street with a forever list of crises, much of its own making. Perhaps surprisingly, Downing Street is cut some slack on the podcast while the empty demands for the Prime Minister's resignation by Northern Ireland politicians is called out for what it is - hubris. Meanwhile, since the last podcast, Liz T…

Despite claiming to be 'guided by the science' the NI Executive's reluctance to publish 'the evidence', the science and reason on which a decision is being made, seems churlish. It also seems that the politicians in the NI Executive don't quite trust, certainly lack confidence in the data. Added to which any review of the published NISRA data, a da…

Labour, Conservatives, and most recently the UUP presented fine optics at their respective conferences. Leaders who said a lot about nothing we didn't know already, at best. Boris was Boris, delivering what everyone in the Conference Centre expected of Boris. Sir Keir and Doug Beattie presented speeches that didn't alarm the horses. At least Sir Ke…

We have heard a lot in Northern Ireland about Executive disagreement on the matter of 'Vaccine Passports'. Less clear, and barely discussed, is either the science that underscores a requirement for restricting 'the unvaccinated' access to hospitality venues. Arguments on encouraging vaccinations or 'saving' the NHS don't add up: the age categories …

Cherryvalley will be eating M&S baked beans on toast this Christmas as this one retailer lays bare their shelves in an honest announcement of the reduced Christmas lines for NI shoppers this year. Every indication is that the 'grace periods', currently preventing already challenging restraints on goods from GB to NI becoming brutal, will be extende…

While we know there is a Judicial Review of the Protocol in our courts, the key points on which the Protocol is being challenged haven't had much airtime. Efforts by Jim Allister to explain on the BBC Northern Ireland Nolan Show were interrupted (frequently) by the host shouting "but Brexit". With his legal hat on, we give Jim time to set out the l…

Has the DUP leadership contest been precipitated by policy, politics, or a simpler clash of personalities? Hard to say, and more difficult to see how the DUP comes out the other side with a stable leadership. Not that Unionist voters are going to have a massive choice in 2022 - devil you know, or the devil or the deep blue sea. The accusation of po…

A year after the first Covid lockdown, and just over a year of New Decade "new" Approach, the ability of our institutions to address anything much with a degree of competence seems, at best, little improved. The Storey funeral suggests everyone is confused on both law and responsibilities, including those who wrote the law and those who might be ex…

The UK Budget this past week gave small comfort to small businesses in excluding many from the proposed corporation tax increases. In Northern Ireland that was indeed small comfort to many small businesses. They are doubly troubled. Burdened by the NI Protocol and supply issues that impact directly on competitiveness within the UK internal market, …

Risk is relative. When the COVID-19 virus has been prevalent in the community, the large numbers who require hospitalisation threaten to overwhelm the health service. That has been true without a working vaccine. Now that there is vaccines being delivered it is clear the threat to the health service will decline - the risk to the NHS declines. That…

Ending the podcast with insightful commentary from the FT that a United Ireland is imminent because there are posh East Belfast coffee shops. Who knew? The remarkable ability to put apples and oranges together and calling it bowl of bananas is a communications trait that seems to be all too prevalent in public discourse, and perhaps the underlying …

The pattern of bold policy announcements followed by a failure to deliver seems to be the dominant feature of 2020. Perhaps the recent UK/EU trade agreement will be an exception as it seems to be, for now) - once the NI Protocol as 'best of both worlds' is explained. That can't be said for the New Decade heralded by the resurrection of Stormont tha…

The question is not whether or not there is a trade Agreement between the UK and EU in the first week of December. Rather it is a question of preparedness for either scenario. This episode looks at the monumental scale of unpreparedness, by just about everyone - it isn't just the UK Govt struggling with the reality of it all. There has been some ge…

Groundhog Days. Once again renewable energy has hit the headlines, though it seems because the funding is covered outside the Stormont budget the schemes haven't managed to elicit the level of public interest that RHI attracted. Also in the news are voices expressing concern about the NI Protocol on Northern Ireland business (particularly retail) a…

There seems to be a common thread around Governments' pronouncements around Brexit and COVID19 that creates uncertainty and confusion; and that is the ambiguous nature of much of the messaging. We are asked to believe what Government tells us, but find it hard to do so where what we are being told could be interpreted this way or that, and words ar…

Four topics in this episode. First mixed messaging of Covid in NI, then the botched messaging on exams. Required messaging for the Union, particularly heading into the Centenary events around 2021 and the creation of Northern Ireland. Restoring a message based on evidence and reasoned debate rather enabling nationalist slogans to become received tr…

A small change planned for how decisions are made by Northern Ireland Ministers might be a big thing. Meanwhile the big changes needed on fundamental services that underpin any economy are not getting the focused attention needed because, look, here's a cycling strategy to get you on your bike or, there, a Boris bridge. Sometimes we forget that for…

There is a new Government in the Republic of Ireland, which may bring a new approach. Damage caused by Fine Gael's aggressive attitude to North/South and East/West relations may be ameliorated by the more thoughtful Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail. The performance of Sinn Fein in Belfast this past weekend has shown how unsuited they are to any coalit…

Rather than proposals we now have 'approaches', on the Northern Ireland Protocol as part of the UK leaving the EU, and on Legacy from Secretary of State Brandon Lewis. These 'approaches' are long on ambition, short on detail. This episode looks at issues of concern in the UK Government Approach to the Protocol, and then on the current Sinn Fein his…

A brief gap while every day was Covid-19, a short recap on the need for accelerated Health reform. As if that were not a big enough challenge, money is being spent by the Stormont Executive while there is still no basic budget this financial year (none since 2016!), no programme for Government, and therefore no baseline to understand scale or impac…

RHI has exposed weaknesses in the entire Stormont infrastructure, which were already known and ignored in favour of 'Keeping the show on the road'. Despite knowing what needed to be reformed, for 20 years, the current Health Service ought to be so much better - and isn't. We rightly praise our frontline health workers for selfless dedication. Perha…

At Stormont House, Julian Smith has left the building. While lauded for the moment of MLAs returning to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, he hardly left behind a Northern Ireland Government that could be described as strong and stable. While Sinn Fein in particular has announced money for many, there is still no budget to understand spen…

New Decade (barely) and we're questioning public sector competence around MOT services. The previous decade started with public disquiet around Northern Ireland's water services. In between, RHI and the rest. Meanwhile, almost 20% of current MLAs are 'co-opted'; Party appointees, serving Party first? New Approach? We don't seem to be able to start …

All of a sudden, with an almost unseemly haste, a document is waved and everything on Stormont Hill is back to the nothing like normal it was before. The constructed ambiguity of this particular document means that it is truly all things to all Parties, yet perhaps amounting to nothing much. Lots of promises, but who'll be paying?…

Endless "reports' on Health reform produce little critical or cultural change in frontline delivery of services. And who pays for pay? Little confidence that an Executive would have the will (or ability) to undertake difficult decisions. Why Sinn Fein might need an Assembly far more than any other Party. Finally, Boris's plans for trade arrangement…

At the end of the podcast we remark on how quiet the current election has been. The media gets quite self-important when challenged to tell us more than the obvious. What's behind the headline is often not the copy beneath, which leaves the reader or listener/viewer dissatisfied and wanting more. This episode is a conversation on the current state …

Political Parties are on manoeuvres, heading into an election. In Northern Ireland local Parties all try to beat (up on) the DUP as a means of making themselves relevant, not actually offering anything new, positive or coherent. While across the UK the outcome of the election might offer a Conservative Government that rushes the Boris version of Br…

Hubris before husband, as de Souza vows to keep fighting case which has obvious resolution. There are risks ahead for the Irish 'Father Ted' economic model, including a possible Brexit own-goal?Door politicalOD

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party announced he was leaving his role in due course. The Rabble Alliance in Westminster, all powered up and nowhere to go? Party Conference season's one big issue, barely mentioned in the news reports or election pitches.Door politicalOD

@3000Versts and @thedissenter take on politics and stuff in Northern Ireland, and elsewhere. Unionist perspective of course, but hopefully a bit wider and worldly view . Episode one very much a trial (total experiment), with an unarticulated word or two here and there. Inevitably, topics are 'Backstop or go' and 'David Cameron, hero or villain?'. O…