Articles by Lavinia Thompson

The unexpected resignation of Tim Farron as leader of the Lib-Dems last night is a development worthy of being remarked upon because it brings into sharp focus the eternal inner dilemmas that can sometimes face members of the political class – I’m talking about the potential inconsistencies, [...]

One day to go to Polling Day and it is hard not to conclude that the official duration of a General Election campaign in the UK [is it six weeks?] is the absolute maximum that any sane individual can possible stomach. It’s a coin toss as to whether the political class regards an election campaign [...]

Simon Campion-Brown is unwell. I don’t wish to over-dramatize things but Rust readers beyond a certain age may recognise this cultural reference to Jeffrey Bernard, who used to write a column entitled Low Life for The Spectator magazine in the 1970s and 1980s. This detailed his indulgent life [...]

A snapshot of Thursday 18th May 2017. Just another General Election campaign day: another manifesto; several carefully ‘stage-managed’ appearances in front of the media; hundreds of journalists searching in vain for an Election-related story remotely interesting to them and indeed their [...]

Reading the revelations this week in The Times and elsewhere about the current overspending disaster that has befallen Britain’s Defence budget, it was difficult to escape the conclusion that Defence is a no-win item. When you think about it – apart from the chaps (and chapesses) that you [...]