James Mill on Periodical Literature

James Mill (1777-1836), perhaps now best known as the father of John Stuart Mill, was a Scottish radical and a follower and populariser of the thought of Jeremy Bentham.1 In 1823, Bentham's disciples established the Westminster Review, a quarterly periodical, to spread the ideas of philosophic radicalism. Mill contributed an article titled 'Periodical Literature' to … Continue reading James Mill on Periodical Literature

How to Choose Britain’s Next Prime Minister

The Financial Times recently argued against the idea that Britain’s next prime minister should be elected by the Tory Party membership (’This is not the way to choose Britain’s next prime minister’, 15 August). Anyone who takes democracy seriously ought to object to the fact that executive power is going to be given by a fraction of … Continue reading How to Choose Britain’s Next Prime Minister

Andy Burnham is Not the Answer

Sir Keir Starmer is a worthless leader of the opposition. His politics, recycled Blairism and extreme factionalism together repudiating everything he told Labour members during his leadership campaign, are stale and uninspiring; but he is also incompetent and therefore ineffective. Labour has been unable to establish a convincing lead against a Tory government mired in … Continue reading Andy Burnham is Not the Answer

A Comment on Tony Blair’s Knighthood

Unfortunately, I was unable to get this piece published in Varsity. Here is some correspondence I had with the paper: Varsity has published two pieces about Blair, neither of which characterises the war as a crime, thus marginalising the views of many Iraqis, lawyers, peace activists and indeed Cambridge students. In light of Varsity editors … Continue reading A Comment on Tony Blair’s Knighthood