Side Lines

Is it the Eve of Armageddon again? It seems to come round earlier every year these days. Neither Israel nor Iran is either an ally or an enemy of Britain. What precise form does either that alliance or that enmity take? What does either of them do for Britain? What does either of them do to Britain? Well, apart from that recent use of a British-made weapon to murder, very precisely, three British aid workers. But we are not supposed to talk about that. Apart from that, though, we have no conceivable dog in this, one of numerous fights in the world of which that could be said, should be said, and usually is said.

The Conservatives will have to be worked hard on this, and Labour is now hopeless. But when I tell you that there is going to be a hung Parliament, then you can take that to the bank. I spent the 2005 Parliament saying that it was psephologically impossible for the Heir to Blair's Conservative Party to win an overall majority. I predicted a hung Parliament on the day that the 2017 General Election was called, and I stuck to that, entirely alone, all the way up to the publication of the exit poll eight long weeks later. And on the day that Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, I predicted that a General Election between him and Keir Starmer would result in a hung Parliament.

I have no plan to join the Workers Party of Britain, although nor would I expect to stand against it. If, however, it did not contest North Durham, then I would. To strengthen families and communities by securing economic equality and international peace through the democratic political control of the means to those ends, including national and parliamentary sovereignty, we need to hold the balance of power. Owing nothing to either main party, we must be open to the better offer. There does, however, need to be a better offer. Not a lesser evil, which in any case the Labour Party is not. We have made a start.