Posts by Alan Simpson

When systems break down, contradictions pour out everywhere. Just as the flood waters washed whole districts of Derna (Libya) into the sea, former Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, claimed it was unreasonable to give the Bank climate duties. Mervyn lives on the wrong planet. Over 20,000 people remain unaccounted for in Derna.…

August is the silly season in British politics but behind the scenes something important is happening. There’s a new ‘Battle of Hastings’ brewing. This has nothing to do with the Norman conquests. But its consequences will be just as profound as the spat between William of Normandy and King Harold. Today’s conflict revolves around coruscating…

What happens when politics gets lost? British politics has lost the plot. Rishi Sunak isn’t a clever charlatan like Boris Johnson. He’s more superficial; a cartoon ‘bear with little brain’. His grasp of issues is mainly opportunistic. In climate terms, this makes him more dangerous. Sunak’s wooing of motorists is an attempt to turn the…

Forget Boris Johnson. He is a sideshow in the disintegration of human values surrounding us. Greater self-deceiving dishonesties are to be found in the institutions that claim to hold society together. Of course Johnson lied to parliament. The government does so every day. With not a flicker of embarrassment, Ministers will now attempt to shower…

Britain’s descent into dystopian democracy The government is desperate. Its latest attack on refugees is the pursuit of small minds not ‘small boats’. Division, distraction and prejudice are the only electoral cards the Tories have left to play. It doesn’t matter if their plans are incoherent and unworkable. The ploy is just an appeal to…

I hear that in New York At the corner of 26th street and Broadway A man stands every evening during the winter months And gets beds for the homeless there By appealing to passers-by. … A few people have a bed for the night For a night the wind is kept from them The snow…

a search for post-fantasy politics Few people would ever mistake former Tory Health Minister, Matt Hancock for Keanu Reeves. However, his involvement in the ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’ TV series has become almost as mind-bending as ‘the Matrix’. Having discharged care-home patients from hospital, without any pre-screening for Covid, Hancock deserves…

…neoliberalism’s unstoppable implosion Don’t be distracted by the pantomime of Liz Truss’ resignation. A bigger game is in play; the complete implosion of the Conservative Party. Ever since the days of Margaret Thatcher, the Tory Party has been embroiled in an internal war between competing ideologies. Now the gloves are off. Neoliberal outriders stalked John…