John Oxley

The Tories have no excuse to whine about The Blob

29 February 2024 8:22 pm

The last few weeks have served as a reminder of the sort of conspiratorial, self-excusing hole the Conservative party could…

Is there a house-building cartel?

27 February 2024 4:17 am

The Competition and Markets Authority report on the housing sector should be a boost to the Yimby policy machine. It…

Sunak is playing it safe with new housing plans

14 February 2024 12:02 am

Rishi Sunak seems to have realised a trick for pushing more building without confronting Tory Nimbyism. Under plans unveiled today,…

The Tory party’s empty legacy

13 January 2024 11:00 am

It was Evelyn Waugh who dismissed the Tories as having ‘never put the clock back a single second’. Now, even…

There’s nothing ‘long-term’ about ignoring the housing crisis

6 October 2023 2:12 am

There was much to talk about in Rishi Sunak’s conference closing speech. In around an hour on the stage he…

Gove is right to tackle EU pollution laws blocking housing

30 August 2023 3:32 am

Michael Gove has announced today that the government will scrap EU-era pollution laws which are preventing homes being built. The…

The Tories are heading for electoral evisceration

8 August 2023 8:25 pm

‘Whoever wins in September, the party will be stuck. Even in power it remains incapable of generating and delivering credible…

Fining landlords over illegal migrants will make renting even worse

8 August 2023 12:21 am

As part of a slew of measures to freeze illegal immigrants out of the economy, the Tories have announced tougher…

Martin Lewis

Britain has a Martin Lewis problem

20 July 2023 7:26 pm

Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, has become the sage of the cost-of-living crisis. He is closing in on national…

Prince William should house the homeless on his lands

27 June 2023 7:45 pm

The Prince of Wales has announced that homelessness will be his charitable focus while he awaits his eventual succession to…

Keir Starmer’s housing pledge has trapped the Tories

17 May 2023 9:24 pm

Sir Keir Starmer has broken cover on planning. In perhaps his most daring policy announcement so far, he has declared…

Why ‘Spotify dads’ are turning on the Tories

27 January 2023 6:06 pm

It’s probably never been cool to be a Tory. There will never be a Conservative youthquake – they are the…

Britain’s young are giving up hope

11 December 2022 8:00 pm

The Conservative party faces a new challenge in the battle to win back younger voters – how to sell the…

We need to talk about boomer radicalisation

6 November 2022 7:00 pm

Andrew Leak, the man named as the perpetrator of the petrol bomb attack on Dover migrant centre was, on the…

Rishi Sunak and the triumph of managerialism

22 October 2022 5:20 pm

A few short months ago, Liz Truss dismissed Rishi Sunak’s business-as-usual managerialism on the economy. The former chancellor responded by…

Is it time to kill the Conservative party?

28 September 2022 7:05 pm

Dominic Cummings’s response to the plight of the Conservative party is typically bellicose. He calls for it to be driven…

The crisis at the heart of the Conservative party

10 August 2022 12:30 am

It is always interesting to read the Wikipedia pages of plane crashes. Thanks to the data recovered from black boxes,…