The response to Sarah Everard’s murder requires neither misogyny nor misandry | Sam Hall
The present discourse on this issue predictably blames all men. Critics of this view will argue to the contrary; but the attack on masculinity and the very reality of being male has been underway for some time. On the one hand, we argue violently for men’s mental health and well-being and that we should be kind; but on the other, we give undue credence to the narrative that all men are monsters and should be unilaterally held with suspicion. Many men are not confident to walk home alone on a dark night through crime-ridden streets and areas of London, or other major cities. Therefore, you cannot blame all men for the crimes of a minority who not only exploit the risks women decide to take, but also the the cosy world that has become our virtual reality during the pandemic.
Trident - is it a necessary expense? | Laura Sánchez Pérez
Even if there is a remote chance that we might need to retain a nuclear weapons capability, there is an option, which cuts the cost significantly, allows for the restoration of our three military services, and maintains the nuclear deterrent as a capability to be deployed if events ever require.
Budget 2021: Rishi’s economic placebo | Joseph Robertson
For what seems like a long time, budget announcements (or for now, perhaps we should call them ‘spending announcements’) from the Chancellor of the Exchequer have seemed to be a placebo to the common man rather than an attempt to stabilise the economy. Rather like living in a comfortable house that is built over a subterraneous cavern and has no foundations, we are waiting for a collapse of our comfort. Many are beginning to see cracks in their floors appearing and see dust seep in from fissures in the walls. The government is sent to inspect the property frequently but as a solution, keeps adding new floor levels to the property, building upwards, rather than inspecting the lack of foundation underneath.
A review of Budget 2021
All in all, this budget is an honest and balanced attempt by the government at sustaining demand while outlining a longer-term plan for fiscal restructuring. What is clear is that the government is deeply committed to ensuring that it does everything in its power to restart the economy in the near future. This is not a problem per se, but it will have to make sure it gives back control of the economy sooner rather than later.
If not, the risk is that the public becomes too comfortable with, and dependent on, this type of government intervention, triggering a slow return of the Big State and a new normal economic policy based around a combination of high taxes and high spending, all with the approval of the Conservative party.
Rishi’s big fork out | Alex Brown
The 2021 Budget is a mixed bag of policies that do not have our long-term economic recovery at the fore. The Chancellor is using his ‘fiscal firepower’ to keep on spending – resulting in a further £65bil to support the economy – which translates into borrowing 17% of the national income. To some extent, the reality that some spending is not being cut is an indictment – especially as the Prime Minister has outlined our road to recovery and the gradual Great Unlocking. But it is welcome news that the government’s economic intervention has prevented peaks in unemployment. Can we be sure of this after the taps are turned off and the handouts cease?
The sanctity of history | Dan Mikhaylov
What Britain so desperately requires is a stronger emphasis on national history – on producing a comprehensive and convincing historical narrative that would both reflect our civic values and transmit them from one generation to another. This undertaking is what the British philosopher Ernest Gellner would have considered a “nationalism-inducing situation”; in his renowned 1983 publication, Nations and Nationalism, he presents a strong argument that nationalism in the form we concatenate to the advent of European nation-states was a nineteenth-century phenomenon, which originated in something called the “national consciousness”. The latter in turn constituted a product of cultural homogenisation, linguistic standardisation, political centralisation, and the creation of a shared history.
Re-shoring Industry: A National Security Priority | Dominic Lawson
In short, re-shoring industrial development will have innumerate benefits for this country. Of course, it will grant us a degree of strategic autonomy from a hostile superpower, but it would also affirm our societal structure and slow down the environmental impact from the trading of cheap goods on global sea and air-lanes.
This is entirely possible, indeed, we have seen a slow trickle of organisations considering or actively moving their manufacturing bases out of Chinese territory
A Summary of Localism | Local Matters
A Localist is somebody who places the local community as the primary and most important political and economic entity. This ideological stance is therefore opposed to many notions of Modernity; a mindset which professes a linear view of historical progression, a notion of an 'end of history', individualism and universalism. In contrast, Localists see the world in plurality: there is no linear societal progression, nor is there any penultimate ideology or political structure.
The conservative case for integrating British Muslims | Dan Mikhaylov
Conservatives have often abstained from this discussion, as carrying out this integration implies pragmatism and compromise, which might not necessarily resonate with their audiences to the extent that would justify them. The ill-founded custom of political teetotalism and our politicos’ predisposition to conniving at domestic radicalism and profuse integrational nihilism, observed in many Muslim communities in Britain, is turning many young Britons towards the wrong sort of orthodoxy – one that renounces patriotism and calls for violent action against the West. From this premise, our role in this brewing crisis is crystal clear: we must provide these disenchanted youths with a socially conservative alternative, in which they can strike a balance between their British and Muslim identities.