Clik here to view.
Conservative Practicality.
Conservative policy generally seems to be one of practicality over principle, which would also seem to sum up David Cameron’s approach to most issues. Just as the new Conservative group in the European...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Education and ideology conflict
In his speech to the recent Traditional Unionist Voice conference, Chairman of the National Grammar Schools Association, Robert McCartney, focused on the underlying conflict at the heart of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
There will be an election in 2010
While generally there is nothing certain about the future, one 99.99% certainty for 2010 is a British Parliamentary Election. Voting must take place before the summer, and the general consensus is for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Unionist Spring?
Recent events in Northern Ireland have raised the possibility that there may be an Assembly election before a Westminster election. Depending on how current talks at Hillsborough and elsewhere...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snake Oil
All the ingredients were there: the crisis, the Prime Ministers, the big house, the Belfast Telegraph survey, the Parties doing all night sittings and the press pack. At the end of all that we have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Commentary will resume…
Perhaps thedissenter should have commented in the run up to, and during, the election in Northern Ireland. But the build up to, and conduct of, the local campaigns was not exactly exciting; business...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Looking forward: Part 1
What has changed? The 2010 Westminster election is over. While the poll outcome was inconclusive the upshot is a decisive shift in British Politics where a progressive coalition has burst through the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why did Basil lose?
Commentators seemed to view the overwhelming victory of Tom Elliott in the Ulster Unionist Party leadership contest as the Party taking a ‘traditional’ and safe option, rather than the more media...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Election year, again.
Motivation has been hard to find at the outset of 2011. It’s election year, again. To get started, a view on where matters stand politically in Northern Ireland generally. The UK Government’s economic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicken or Egg?
Animations provided by MySpaceGraphicsandAnimations.com The Northern Ireland electorate heads towards the 5 May with little enthusiasm for the choice being presented, little interest in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Conservative by any name.
It was hard enough to achieve Conservative Party organisation in Northern Ireland in the first instance, back in the 1980s. Central office was hostile, and much of the Party leadership at best...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A date with reality.
The challenge for the Ulster Unionist Party AGM is threefold: That there must be a leadership capable of uniting the Party; That there must be a leadership capable of regaining the confidence and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dear Dr Haass, First…
This is the first part of a trilogy of posts based on a submission to The Panel of Parties, more generally named ‘The Haass Talks’. The blog post has the added advantage of being able to link documents...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dear Mr Haass, Secondly…
This is the second part of a Trilogy of posts based on a submission to The Panel of Parties, more generally named ‘The Haass Talks’. The blog post has the added advantage of being able to link...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dear Dr Haass, Thirdly…
This is the third part of a Trilogy of posts based on a submission to The Panel of Parties, more generally named ‘The Haass Talks’. The blog post has the added advantage of being able to link documents...
View Article
