Labour - A Tippling Philosopher

A Tippling Philosopher

Sign in Subscribe

Labour

A collection of 15 posts

What's Wrong with the Left: The Mechanisms of Voting and Rigging the System

What's Wrong with the Left: The Mechanisms of Voting and Rigging the System

This is part two in my series on the subject. The first started with: I was asked the other day “what is wrong with the left?” or “where has the left gone wrong?” This is presumably in the context of the UK since this is quite a different political environment

What Is Wrong with the Left?: The Mechanisms of Messaging

I was asked the other day “what is wrong with the left?” or “where has the left gone wrong?” This is presumably in the context of the UK since this is quite a different political environment to the US, although there are obvious similarities. Let me answer this question in

Disenfranchised and Disenchanted: Reflections on the UK Local Elections

Things are bleak in the UK. We are in a very desperate situation whereby we are still, after 11 years, being ruled by an incompetent, corrupt right-wing populist party with our own British Trump (the difference being that he can read Classics) fooling the British people with his buffoonery that

By Adrian Pingstone (talk · contribs) (Self-photographed) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Democratic Party

Responding to a Critic: "Democrats/Liberals/Progressives/Labour Don't Care"

I recently posted my analysis of the UK elections in what I thought was a fairly objective and sensible manner. A number of comment threads broke out, but one particular commenter (Spike2Heart) was pretty damning. Here is his initial comment: As usual, the real reasons the Democrats/Liberals/Progressives/Labour

UK Election Analysis: Brexit, the Media, Scotland and FPTP, Political Ignorance, Deunionisation

UK Election Analysis: Brexit, the Media, Scotland and FPTP, Political Ignorance, Deunionisation

What a thoroughly depressing night for someone like me. The result itself was not particularly a surprise, but the scale was, and some of the Conservative gains were staggering. The devil, however, is in the details and there are certainly a big number of devils. The Tories have a big

Conservative Contradiction: Meritocracy and Inheritance Tax

I have not particularly studied anything about Inheritance Tax (IHT), so this is coming purely from my own thinking about this. Yesterday, the Daily Mail predictably spouted off about the Labour Party's designs on IHT: Corbyn's sly death tax trap: 1.2million more families' homes

Manchester Bombing and the Political Context

As with so many, I am deeply angered by the attack from last night. I could offer all the usual condolences but it would all sound rather trite from me. So I'll do what I usually do: offer some kind of analysis, this time political rather than theological.

The Media, and Similarities between Trump and Corbyn

The UK election is hotting up. May arguably called it early because the Conservatives were going to romp through, gaining a vastly increased number of seats, and marginalising Labour and an effective opposition into the sidelines of UK politics. This might well still happen, given that the Conservatives have stolen

I See You, David Miliband

The last few days have torn the UK apart. At a moment when the Tory party is riven in twain and ripe for pickings, Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has imploded spectacularly. In the past 36 hours, 23 out of 31 shadow cabinet members have quit. It is in

Nick Clegg: Tories Trying to Americanise UK Politics to One Party State

Nick Clegg was leader of the Liberal Democrats who were in coalition with the right-wing Conservative government in the last Parliament, and was our Deputy Prime Minister. The Lib Dems got stung this last election to leave a straight Tory majority. Now Clegg is spilling the beans in the Independent

Thoughts on motivation for voting

The general election is only just over, and I am sorry for being off my usual topics. I will return to them shortly. I would like to provoke thought on what motivates voters to vote for particular parties, briefly and rather anecdotally and theoretically.

By Adrian Pingstone (talk · contribs) (Self-photographed) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Post election blues

Pun intended. My depressed sadness has turned into anger. Today is a bad day for fairness. It is a bad day for democracy (think AV/PR). It is a bad day for the electorate who seem far less politically educated than I realised (and if my school has anything to go by, very very ill-equipped to b

A lesson about the NHS from a 91-year-old

A lesson about the NHS from a 91-year-old

This video has been doing the rounds. And rightly so. Well worth a watch.

By Adrian Pingstone (talk · contribs) (Self-photographed) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

conceptual nominalism

Scottish Independence - my thoughts

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel and flag-waving the first action of a warmonger. yes-no2 I am British, English, and live on the south coast of the UK. That said, the coming Thursday referendum affects me as much as most people in the country. I will set out what is, for me and m

Scottish independence would be a political disaster for the UK, and here's for why

Soon, the Scottish people will be voting in a referendum as to whether they want an independent Scotland. Let's put aside all the issues with this, like giving the vote to 16 year olds. I for one didn't know my posterior from my elbow at that