In 1941 the American journalist Dorothy Thompson published an essay in Harper’s Magazine called “Who Goes Nazi?” in which she imagines herself looking around a gathering of her acquaintances and privately asking that question. Thompson was an influential journalist of her time (she had met and interviewed Hitler and been deported from Germany) but the … Continue reading Who goes Nazi? →

So “Blue Labour”, a group of parliamentarians within the UK’s ruling Labour party, have issued a mini-manifesto (in April, actually, but just reported in the Guardian) which is going to get a lot of attention in British politics, for bad reasons. The mini-manifesto stakes out a right-wing, authoritarian position which it wants our supposedly centre-left … Continue reading They have a “socialist” part too →

A long, damp winter is finally coming to an end. The daffodils have been out for some time and blackthorn is in flower in the hedges which line England's roads, spraying them white. I took this picture on a bike ride the Saturday before Easter on the edge of Gamlingay near Cambridge. That part of … Continue reading In the grey UK, Spring has finally sprung. →

So in the summer of 2022 I meant to ride my mountain bike through the French Alps. I got as far as Paris, fell sick in the heat, went home and ended up riding in England's Lake District instead. I was following this route, which is really best for people with very light mountain bikes … Continue reading Mountain biking with Tom Cruise, sort of →

An aspect of the political mess in the United Kingdom is the poor standard of a lot of media commentary which influences political discourse and the actions of politicians. If you scan the comment sections you can find plenty of writing which is: 1.Flavoured with words like "moderate", "radical" or "pragmatic" which are meant to … Continue reading The British political pundit test →

So, Cambo. A big oilfield off Scotland which a private equity-backed firm called Siccar Point Energy wants to exploit in partnership with Shell, at a time when energy experts are warning that the world’s fossil fuel emissions need to be cut sharply and fast. Sky News reported this week that Siccar Point Energy “is not … Continue reading There’s no oil in Luxembourg: Siccar Point Energy and tax →

Nearly two years ago I looked at some numbers published by Barclays Bank and optimistically concluded that the bank might be reining in its tax-haven habit. Unfortunately that’s turned out to be bollocks. I’d noted that Barclays had booked 15 per cent of its global profits for 2018 in the tax havens of Luxembourg, Jersey, … Continue reading Barclays Bank: still hooked on tax havens →

Bikepacking, now in fashion, is good old cycle touring but with less riding on tarmac roads and more on bridleways, gravel roads and stony tracks.  It can be anything from weekends out in the local countryside to month-long rides down the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico. The appeal of bikepacking in the British uplands … Continue reading Three mistakes I often make while bikepacking →

A recent working paper from researchers at the International Monetary Fund makes painful reading for anyone familiar with the IMF’s long history of trying to compel countries around the world to follow whatever economic ideas are fashionable in elite circles in the West. The paper analyses a list of key terms used in thousands of … Continue reading The IMF takes a look in the mirror, sort of. →

Revelations from the Good Law Project about billions of pounds worth of questionable procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) have got people on social media talking about corruption in Britain. We don’t yet know whether these PPE deals involve corruption or not. Corruption is very hard to prove and arrangements which may look corrupt from … Continue reading Britain and corruption: where are we now? →