The Right Dishonourable

If inciting hatred is violent, lobbing milkshakes is too

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Jimmy Nicholls / 0 Comment

It is mad and hilarious that in the same week Britain lost a prime minister many pundits were debating the legitimacy of throwing milkshakes over political opponents.

These attacks are funny. Pouring a girly if delicious drink on a macho politician is amusing – as evinced by the people laughing. But it is also violent, in much the same way throwing anything at anyone is an act of violence, because that is how the word is defined and used in English. And it is violent in the legal sense, potentially earning a charge of common assault.

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Opinion

For Britain, the European elections are a vote on democracy

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Jimmy Nicholls / 0 Comment

Three years on from the referendum on whether Britain should leave the EU there is still no obvious way forward. It’s therefore unsurprising – even fair – that these European elections will be treated as a comment on what’s happened since that vote, and what should happen next.

Theresa May’s handling of things has been chaotic, even allowing for the troubled circumstances in which she became prime minister. Writing this on Wednesday night, it seems her time has come.

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Review

How the diversocrats tried to Knock Down the House

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Jimmy Nicholls / 0 Comment

It’s petty, but for the last minutes of Knock Down the House I could only fixate on the psychology of a man who wears shorts as his girlfriend ousts an incumbent politician of some two decades live on national TV.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, now a Democratic congresswoman in the US, would justifiably be irked that I mention her man Riley Roberts first as I review a film centred on her surprise win in New York’s 14th congressional district. I can only plead that, given the film’s fixation on appearances, it’s fair.

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Blog

No interview is destructive enough to dissuade political fanboys

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Jimmy Nicholls / 0 Comment

There has been much debate about the legitimacy of inviting fringe figures – particularly those on the far right, or accused of it – onto mainstream media programmes, with the BBC’s output proving the most contentious in the UK due to its reach and unique status.

Ash Sarkar of Novara Media gave an interesting video overview of the topic following recent BBC interviews with Nigel Farage, most recently of the Brexit Party, and the US conservative pundit Ben Shapiro.

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Opinion

Those backing Brexit may find themselves in bed with some odd creatures

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Jimmy Nicholls / 0 Comment

At a debate on democracy earlier this year columnist and former MP Matthew Parris registered an eclectic complaint about the state of our governance. Manifestos, he said, are too bloody long, and increasingly so. It would be better for politicians to give fewer specifics during elections.

The Brexit Party might well have taken this advice if any of their members were at the Institute of Economic Affairs that night. Since launching in January, Nigel Farage’s latest vehicle aims only to fulfil the referendum mandate to withdraw Britain from the EU, and will only produce a manifesto after the European elections.

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