Thursday 28 March 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 12

My latest ConHome column takes a look at the SNP's new anti-smoking crackdown, and the looming downsides. I also look at the Scottish executive's reaction to the news that Scottish universities are the worst in the UK for attracting the poor, despite the much-vaunted abolition of tuition fees. Also covered are bomb scares in County Fermanagh, Sinn Fein's stand against the Red Arrows, and the joyous but controversial appearance of the Union Jack in the new Star Trek trailer. Read it here.

Thursday 21 March 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 11

My latest column on Conservative Home takes a look at the finding liable (in a civil court) of two Republicans for the 1998 Omagh bombing, the Church in Wales' submission to the Silk Commission on Welsh devolution, and the 'rise' of Northern Isles separatism. Read it here.

Thursday 14 March 2013

Dilettante on Con Home: Red, White, and Blue 10

My latest ConHome column takes a look at the University of Glasgow's solo attempt to introduce to its own administration all the bilingual territorialism of Welsh government, and tries to read the entrails of the Mid Ulster by election, before concluding with the thrilling saga of the DUP David taking on Goliath-like car manufacturer Kia over naming a car after an Irish terrorist organisation. Ahem. Read it here.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 09

My latest ConHome column looks at the prospects of Basil McCrea's new party and the waning fortunes of the DUP, and how the NI Conservatives seem to be struggling to negotiate Northern Ireland's political landscape. It also looks at the latest bout of me-too more-powers-ism to have erupted from the Welsh devolutionary establishment. Read it here.

Saturday 2 March 2013

Dilettante at the International Business Times: After Eastleigh

My latest piece for the International Business Times takes a look at the result of the Eastleigh by-election, and makes the case that it failed to satisfy even the two winners - the Lib Dems seeing much of the potential good press drowned by the Rennard scandal, and UKIP's failure to run Farage leaving it with a tantalising and painful "what if...". 

Meanwhile, the Conservatives were beaten into the third by the Ghost of Christmas Past, and Labour's vote left it looking back on the 'glory days' of 1994, and the caretaker leadership of Margaret Beckett. Read it here.

Friday 1 March 2013

Dilettante on ITV.com: The case for a constitutional convention

In a shorter, 600 word version of my ConHome article of a couple of week's ago, I make the unionist case for a constitutional convention to bring devolution to a rational, equitable and sustainable conclusion. Read it here.