Wednesday 24 April 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 16

My latest ConservativeHome column looks at the risk of Scottish political independence to Scottish economic independence, the MI5 spying operation on Plaid Cymru, the resurrection of the Red Flag at Labour conferences, and takes the opportunity afforded by Saint George's Day to explain to grumbling Anglo-Nat commenters that the reason my column doesn't mention England much is because it is about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Read it here.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 15

My latest column for Conservative Home looks at the differing approaches to Lady Thatcher taken by the Scottish and Welsh devolved chambers, a couple of possible Tory prospects in North-Eastern Scotland, the Sinn Fein party conference and Lady T's notion of repartitioning Ireland, and the odd news item that England would apparently bomb post-independence Scottish airports. Read it here.

Thursday 11 April 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 14

My latest ConHome column looks at the response to the passing of Lady Thatcher in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Topics include her impact on the Troubles, whether she was a recruiting sergeant for devolution, the lost legacy of the 'One Nation' Tory party, the notorious death parties, and whether or not she was as universally hated in Wales and Scotland as modern collective memory believes. Read it here.

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Dilettante on the BBC World Service: Margaret Thatcher death parties - the right to do wrong

I served on a panel for World Have Your Say, on the BBC World Service, debating the morality of those throwing street parties to celebrate Margaret Thatcher's demise. Arrayed against me were four critics of Thatcher of varying degrees of virulence, and a fellow Tory from Birmingham. The Thatcher segment formed the second half-hour of the hour long programme. Listen here.

Dilettante on The Commentator: The importance of national history

My latest article for the Commentator draws on my experience of historiographical study at Trinity College Dublin to assess the importance and challenges of teaching national history in schools. Read it here.

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Dilettante on the International Business Times: The Iron Lady and her party

My latest post for the International Business Times looks at the difficulty that writing about Lady Thatcher poses for a young Conservative writer, before taking the plunge and trying to give my view of her legacy in terms of the party she led and, much later, I joined. My conclusion? That whilst many of her ideas were perfectly sound, in introducing the Tories to the phenomena of ideological purity and hero-worship she cast a shadow which is holding the party back, and injected a little of the Labour Party into her own. Read it here.

Saturday 6 April 2013

Dilettante on the International Business Times: When neither Left nor Right unite

My latest article for the @IBTimesUK looks at how both the Conservatives and Labour are paying the price for political incoherence, and shows how each party has reaped the benefits of unity in the past. Since it has just started its third season, I couldn't help but include a Game of Thrones reference. Read it here.

Friday 5 April 2013

Dilettante on The Student Journals: A Hack Moves On

My latest piece is for TSJ, where I've not written for a while. It is about my surprise at discovering the Trinity College student elections sailing past me without my giving much of a damn about them, despite them being substantially better than Manchester's democratic efforts when I was there. Read it here.

Thursday 4 April 2013

Dilettante on ConHome: Red, White, and Blue 13

In my latest ConHome column I take a look at the impact of the "bedroom tax" outside England, the all-Catholic final of the Northern Ireland Conservative Future leadership election, and Alex Salmond's newfound enthusiasm for involving David Cameron in the Scottish independence debate. Read it here.