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Articles by Simon Campion-Brown

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About Simon Campion-Brown

A former lecturer in politics at Keele University, Simon now lives in Oxfordshire. Married with two children, in 2007 he decided to monitor the Westminster village via newspaper and television and has never looked back. More Posts

Under starter’s order … and they’re off!

And so here we go again – another UK General Election, this time on 8th June. For an avid veteran politician-watcher such as myself there is no such thing as whatever-that-woman-from-Bristol’s-name-was (that gave an exasperated ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!” type reaction to a media [...]

April 20, 2017 // 0 Comments

Democracy versus politics (continued)

After a very busy time of it yesterday I made myself a much-needed stiff drink and relaxed in front of the television to watch the BBC1 Six O’Clock News. One of the main topics was the Government’s now published Great Repeal Act, which was getting the Opposition extremely aeriated, an [...]

March 31, 2017 // 0 Comments

Just another day at the office …

Yesterday at midday, feeling that I ought to do so on such a momentous day, I deliberately tuned in to the BBC’s Daily Politics programme to watch Prime Minister’s Question Time and then Mrs May’s statement to the Commons on the day that she triggered Brexit by sending a six-page letter to [...]

March 30, 2017 // 0 Comments

The French Presidential election

It looks very likely that the two front runners Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will emerge as victors in the first round on April 23rd. In the polls Macron is one point ahead of Le Pen but has a considerable lead in the final round of a two way shoot out in May. Macron has arrived by default as [...]

March 26, 2017 // 0 Comments

It all comes back to this

Having been away yesterday on family business I was denied my weekly ritual of watching Prime Minister’s Question from the comfort of my favourite armchair and consequently only learned of the Government U-turn over the Budget’s intended hike in NI contributions for the self-employed from a [...]

March 16, 2017 // 0 Comments

Stop the tartan tail wagging the dog!

Thank God that Nicola Sturgeon has crawled out from under the skirting board and declared her intention to have second referendum on Scottish independence at some point in the autumn of 2018 or spring of 2019, I say! I’m privileged to announce, after an intense morning on the telephone and [...]

March 13, 2017 // 0 Comments

What can you believe these days? Anything you like …

We were having an informal editorial conference the other day over a very pleasant meal in a West End restaurant when out of the blue I aired the proposition that the Rust should declare itself a Trump-free organ, at least for a six-month trial period. Well, at least I received a polite hearing. My [...]

March 7, 2017 // 0 Comments

Brexit grumbles

Okay, let us agree that the world has gone completely mad and that we’re living in a parallel universe in the fifth dimension somewhere on the other side of the universe, inside the black hole that the Solar System was sucked into around the time that someone persuaded Prime Minister David [...]

February 20, 2017 // 0 Comments

Whoops!

Over the last couple of years the world seems to have gradually divorced itself from rationality, order and even reality. Is it pompous to suggest that much of human development results from a clash of ‘preserving what we cherish’ (conservatism with a small ‘C’) and by lobbying, protesting [...]

February 17, 2017 // 0 Comments

Coming home to roost

Yesterday as per normal I spent my morning in my favourite arm chair surrounded by the Sunday newspapers and watching BBC1 – viz. The Andrew Marr Show, Nicky Campbell’s The Big Questions and Andrew Neil’s Sunday Politics. It’s a habit that’s hard to break. Something struck me as Nicky [...]

February 6, 2017 // 0 Comments

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