Sunday 25 November 2012

Dilettante on Open Unionism: New Scottish Conservative Logo

In my latest OU contribution I take a look at the Scottish Conservative and Unionists' new logo, trying to offer a balanced critique of its strengths and weaknesses as well as the significance of branding to the Conservative Party. Read it here.

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Dilettante on Tory Hoose: What fate awaits the SNP beyond a 2014 defeat?

In my latest article for Tory Hoose, the Scottish Conservative Home, I speculate on the various fates that may await the SNP beyond a defeat for secession in the 2014 referendum. Read it here.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Dilettante on The Student Journals: Votes for Grown Ups

My latest TSJ article rebuts a previous contibutor's case for votes at 16. I've made the general case against it before, so this time I have some fun taking apart the crux of his argument. Read it here.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Dilettante on Open Unionism: Puerto Rico chooses union

Just a short piece, drawing attention to the other election that took place alongside President Obama's re-election on Tuesday night, when Puerto Rico voted in a (non-binding) referendum to become the 51st member of the United States of America. Read it here.

Thursday 8 November 2012

Dilettante on The Commentator: In Defence of Government Secrecy

My latest article for The Commentator, prompted by the Anonymous threats against Zynga, makes the case for protecting state secrets and corporate privacy and calls for a concerted international strategy for tackling criminal hackers and leakers who pose a threat to national security. Read it here.

Monday 5 November 2012

Dilettante on The Student Journals: Am I the only one on the right?

My latest TSJ contribution looks at the reasons why right-of-centre students are under-represented in student media, the negative impact this has, and challenges my editors to go rustle me up some friends.

Sunday 4 November 2012

Dilettante in the Trinity News: The future's bright, but Orange?

In the early October issue of the fortnightly Trinity College Dublin student newspaper Trinity News, an article was published about unionists and the Orange culture in Northern Ireland. You can find the issue here, the article is on page 12. As the only unionist on staff, I was asked to write a response, which they published in the following issue which you can read here (page 18). 

Alternatively, you can read my slightly longer submitted version over on Open Unionism here.

Friday 2 November 2012

Dilettante in BullsEye: Political youth movements need autonomy

The October issue of BullsEye, the magazine of European Democrat Students, is finally out and can be read here. This is the first issue since I took over as editor-in-chief. The theme is 'Youth Engagement with Politics', and I offer an article on the need for political youth movements to be trusted with some autonomy by their parent parties.