noun 

1. the science or art of government
2. opportunistic, manipulative or devious dealings.

Dave’s political inclinations – as a centre-left, socialist-leaning Northern Englishman who’s written for the Guardian¹ – mean that the actions of the current UK government often provide plenty to write about. Although it’s probable that their general ineptitude and buffoonery mean that he’d be writing about them even if he wasn’t a card-carrying Communist².

Any political writing is posted to this category – some of it is satire, much of it is merely so depressing that you might like to pretend it’s satirical just so you don’t feel like killing yourself.

¹Translation for Americans: Dave is Chairman Mao Tse Tung.
²Joking, of course; ID cards were one of the first things scrapped by the coalition government…

In my last post I talked about the rise in toxic secularism, and how I feel it will it only create greater religious division within British society. This secular crusade is being championed by Richard Dawkins, and The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. They’ve issued several press releases in the last week or [...]

I may have mentioned before that I’m an atheist. That doesn’t – and shouldn’t – set me apart from most Britons. Not because most of us are atheists, but because few us are very religious. I’m an atheist because I don’t believe there is a god. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Unfortunately, [...]

It’s a bit trite to  quote Martin Niemöller every time your government targets a new section of the workforce for cuts, or starts blaming a new segment of the population for all the woes of the rest of us. But when your government has mounted a dedicated campaign of what can only be described as [...]

David Cameron has announced that Britain is a Christian country. That’s sort-of true – we have a state religion, even (the Church of England). But British Christianity, British religion, isn’t particularly zealous. Most of us don’t go to church (or mosque, or temple). We pay lip service to the religion that our parents had, but [...]

Today is a day of public sector strike action in the UK. The Great Strike of my generation, perhaps. I support it. (I’m going to write a bit more, but that’s going to be the gist, so if you’re in a hurry…) Strikes in general are important. The most powerful weapon the ordinary worker has [...]

There are a lot of protests going on all around the world right at the moment, which means that wherever you live you can’t have failed to notice that people are getting a bit pissed off with the ruling elite. I can’t argue with that. In Libya, Egypt and Syria – all across the Arab [...]

As large UK companies serving the basic needs of Britain, you are responsible for employing hundreds of thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled workers – and keeping them employed throughout the recession. As large, profitable, companies, you are capable of providing jobs for our increasing numbers of unemployed – particularly school leavers and other young people, [...]

I quite like Remembrance Day. I donate to the Royal British Legion (only a couple of quid), I wear a poppy, I observe a silence. I remember and appreciate the sacrifices people made to create a country I could be proud of living in – one that battled intolerance, tyranny and segregation. I like that [...]

Recently there has been a great deal of debate about the way women are treated online.  Women bloggers have started to talk openly about the threats of sexual violence they receive, in response to their articles, and the way people attempt to degrade them, instead of debating with them. They say that whilst male bloggers [...]

Unemployment is on the rise again, and with it comes the rhetoric of the right. We hear talk of the ‘workshy’, we hear people on benefits referred to as ‘scroungers’, and of a ‘dependency culture‘ in which it is suggested that the unemployed just aren’t trying to find work. Mr Humphrys is neither the first nor [...]