In defence of the tax on tampons
What the anti-tampon tax advocates failed to realise is that the VAT was not put into place by some evil patriarchal organisation scheming to hurt women from every possible angle, it was there to help them. Indeed, proceeds from the tampon tax created a Tampon Tax Fund worth millions of pounds from which thousands of women across the country benefited, establishing an intergenerational support scheme between women of all income, race, and sexual orientation on a strictly, and intimate, feminine issue. What could be more feminist than that?
Could CANZUK afford Britain cultural and economic security in times of vulnerability and multipolarity? | Laura Sánchez Pérez
CANZUK could act decisively using collective diplomatic clout spanning three continents with extensive global support, without being encumbered by the EU’s bureaucratic impotence or the corrupting effect of Chinese wolf warrior diplomacy on the UN member-states. For too long, Britons took for granted that the United States would protect the Western world order – and much more importantly – help Britain protect and advance its interests on the international stage.
The State of the Union in Wales | Sam Hall
Whatever the future of Wales holds, the fiscal might of the United Kingdom to support it must be unwavering. Separatists will say that Wales is rich enough, intelligent enough, and perfectly capable of governing its own affairs. But even with the powers it does have, under Welsh Labour, limited self-government has been a monumental car crash. Many things are possible in international politics — but that does not always mean they are a good idea. Welsh independence is one such example.
To remain authentically conservative, we must speak out against the systematic redistribution of wealth upward | Sam George
What has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen ex ante, is that the lockdowns have affected a monumental redistribution of wealth upward to almost Biblical proportions. The pockets of multinational businesses already predisposed to economic advantage… have been lined inversely proportional to the wealth lost by small, semi-competitive, local businesses.
An 18th century idea to put fear and deterrance back into prisons? | Alex Brown
In an age where each prisoner costs £26,000 annually to look after, and where they can receive visitors at all times, their lives are made comfortable regardless of their crime. We need an alternative that will put fear back at the heart of our prisons yet cut costs. A modern, digital Panopticon will ensure psychological rehabilitation of prisoners through genuine fear of reincarceration as well as provide the digital surveillance that can prevent violence and control prisoners more effectively.
A battle for the political soul: populism and Christian identity | Joseph Robertson
In the past, identity could be broken down to the level of the individual, the family, the community and the nation, in definable ‘building blocks’. Increasingly identity is stretched to mean the individual as part of a larger supralocal commune, harping back to Irving Janis’s 1972 study, ‘Victims of Groupthink’, where he expounded the theory of individuals foregoing their own beliefs to conform to a consensus.
Life or obscurity - the European choice | OC Comment
As the French sociologist Auguste Comte proclaimed: “Demography is Destiny”. And if we are to look at Europe through a demographic lens, its destiny is grim indeed. With fertility rates plummeting due to the spread of abortion, with the nuclear famirely ripped apart by the forces of postmodern activism, with the vilification of traditional gender roles by third-wave feminism, Europe stands on the brink of demographic extinction.
Conservative compromises, compromised conservatives | OC Comment
We have seen that so-called “Conservative” parties have done a poor job indeed of actually conserving anything. It has got to the point where thinking of a single political issue, especially in the social arena, where the Conservative platform nowadays isn’t a carbon-copy of the progressive platform 20 years ago is rather difficult. If an accurate campaign slogan were necessary, I’d say “Progressive, but Late” is a much more apt description for any mainstream conservative party in the West.
We learn from history not to erase history | Adam James Pollock
History is important, not only to commemorate the achievements of nations or individuals, but also to learn from their mistakes. Subsequently, the best way to understand why such abject destruction of history is objectively bad, we must look at the lessons which history itself bestows us on this topic.