A: I understand that you wanted to put some questions to me regarding the atrocities that we see daily in the Gaza Strip, and the defences—the hideous defences—so often made by the venerable members of our political and media establishment. B: Yes—I thought that it would be useful for us to survey some of the … Continue reading A Dialogue on Gaza
Category: Politics
English government summarised
“It is agreed to by all really disinterested persons, that the government of England—not any individual government, but the general system—is one mass of immorality in practice, whatever it may be in theory. The whole working is founded on a system of conventional hypocrisy from first to last. The general modes of doing business are … Continue reading English government summarised
A Letter on the British Constitution
A new book by Lord Hennessy and Andrew Blick (Could It Happen Here? The Day a Prime Minister Refuses to Resign) makes amusing and instructive reading: the authors speculate about what might ensue if a right-wing populist prime minister were to lose his majority in the House of Commons, and attempted to cling to power … Continue reading A Letter on the British Constitution
Perry Anderson is wrong about populism
James Mill on the Law of Nations
In another of his essays for the supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Scottish radical James Mill considered the Law of Nations—or what we today know as international law—and how such laws might be enforced. Mill remarks upon the general outlawry that characterises international relations thus: "Have nations, in reality, combined, so constantly and steadily, … Continue reading James Mill on the Law of Nations
Will Britain continue to grant Israeli officials impunity?
The visit of the Israeli Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi—the supreme commander of the occupation forces—to Britain last month, impels us to make a number of observations, none of which are favourable to the British Government. Halevi’s visit came mere days after the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli … Continue reading Will Britain continue to grant Israeli officials impunity?
A Letter on Theory and History
As applied to political practice. I have seen some remarks from different Socialists which seem to place History and Theory in opposition to each other. History, they say, is what really happened: therefore it is superior to Theory. In so far as the word Theory is often (and unfortunately) used to denote any speculative or … Continue reading A Letter on Theory and History
Integrity Restored to Government
Sir Keir Starmer promised to restore integrity to government; and after years of odious Tory corruption, the nation would have welcomed some little respite from looting and waste. But such a gift—such a pause in the depredation—Sir Keir, alas, cannot give
James Mill on Evidence
In 1826, the Westminster Review, the organ of Benthamite Radicalism, published James Mill's review of a book entitled Essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions. The Essays were written by Samuel Bailey, a Radical who shared the commitment of Bentham, and the Mills, to rational political analysis. Bailey's argument was, that since belief is … Continue reading James Mill on Evidence
The Coconut Trial
There are occasions when a single act of public authority suffices to expose our institutions as both cruel and absurd. The prosecution of Marieha Hussain, a teacher who was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence, for holding a placard, is one such instance; and though Ms Hussain has happily been acquitted, it is … Continue reading The Coconut Trial
Notes in the Margins of the Days 