Tim Worstall

Bertie Ahern is set to be expelled from Fianna Fail – the party he led to three successive Irish general election victories. The party confirmed it was seeking his expulsion for “conduct unbecoming of a member of Fianna Fail.” How bleedin’ corrupt do you have to be if even Fianna Fail won’t put up with [...]

[Read more →]

Grandparents ‘better than nurseries’ for young children’s development Young children looked after by their grandparents often develop better than those placed in expensive nurseries, a study has found. No one would ever think that some 4 billion years of evolution would lead to such a result, would they? The idea that children are better cared [...]

[Read more →]

A Conservative MEP will today announce his defection to the UK Independence Party following a furious row with Tory party Chairman Baroness Warsi. In a ferocious attack, Roger Helmer blamed Lady Warsi’s ‘obstinancy’ for his decision to quit the Tories after 40 years. Mr Helmer, who has been an MEP since 1999, added that he [...]

[Read more →]

I think it’s an interesting reflection on politics today when the choice in a major election is between a drunken, possibly alcoholic, philanderer and a philanderer. I’ve nothing at all against booze, excessive consumption of such, extra-marital legovers nor even illegitimate children. All add enormously to the gaiety and variety of life and no society [...]

[Read more →]

A vote for the London mayor could be between the true left and the true right. But they’d rather squabble over our wallets All politics is about who gets to control the content of our wallets.

[Read more →]

Quite amazing. An entire column on what a Hollande victory over Sarkozy will mean for British politics. Without even a single mention of Marine Le Pen. It’s not particularly that I think she’ll win, although I think it would be most amusing if she did (no, not because I support her views, only because it [...]

[Read more →]

Except this was no accident. The Fabians, Sidney and Beatrice Webb and their ilk were not attracted to eugenics because they briefly forgot their leftwing principles. The harder truth is that they were drawn to eugenics for what were then good, leftwing reasons. They believed in science and progress, and nothing was more cutting edge [...]

[Read more →]

How absolutely stunningly amazing! In December, a poll by the Pew Research Center found support for socialism now outweighs support for capitalism among a younger generation of Americans. That the young are more socialist than the general population is hardly a surprise really, is it? Fortunately a sufficiently large number of them manage to grow [...]

[Read more →]

Makes me glad I’m a liberal really. Do note the little judo trick in there though. The scientific paper shows that racism and homophobia are associated with low intelligence. That these are conservative ideas is then sorta assumed (yes, there really is left wing racism, left wing homophobia). And then the leap…..thus all conservative ideas [...]

[Read more →]

On the other hand he might just be an arrogant jerk with an ego complex the size of Texas, who accused the BBC of Nazi tactics because he had lost the argument and was making a fool of himself. Tricky one that.

[Read more →]

Ed Miliband will make the case for keeping Scotland as part of the United Kingdom in a speech in Glasgow on Monday. Miliband is expected to describe the “progressive” argument for rejecting independence in what the party billed as a major speech on the constitution. He’s not listed there as telling them the truth. That [...]

[Read more →]

Sir Christopher said party donations should be capped at £10,000 and state funding increased to remove the taint of corruption. This after wibble about how large donations are seen to be for preferential access. Look, maybe donations do buy influence. Maybe the unions’ money gets them Labour MPs as lapdogs, just as hedge fund money [...]

[Read more →]

The Budapest protests must be heeded in a region walking a line between budding democracy and revisionist nationalism. Could anyone parse that sentence for me? I’m not in favour of what Fidesz is doing myself but what on earth does what they’ve said there mean? For example, what is the conflict between democracy and revisionist? [...]

[Read more →]

Yet government is nothing if it is not asserting moral imperatives and if it is not trying to act in a moral way Government is a method of working out who empties the rubbish bins not a form of moral imposition. As long as it’s consenting adults and they’re not frightening the horses the morals [...]

[Read more →]

Politicians are complete fuckwits, incapable of ordering paper clips. Therefore we must have much more government. It’s the “therefore” that grates so much.

[Read more →]

Creasy said: “This isn’t broken Britain, but broke Britain – and it is being bled dry by the legal loan shark industry and their interest rates of 1,700% or more. R3 highlight how in the next six months alone, a whopping 3.5 million Britons expect to take out a payday loan. Sixty-seven per cent say [...]

[Read more →]

Place your choice for the Dogbert characvter in real life……

[Read more →]

The latest playground insult for adults? You’re so ‘leftwing’ David Cameron seems to be hoping ‘leftwing’ will stick as an insult – much like the way ‘liberal’ is thrown about in the US Ignorant, counter-productive, these aren’t insults either but they are usefully descriptive of much of the British left wing. Yes, I know, I’m [...]

[Read more →]

REMOVED: Ron Paul labels Newt and Mitt muppets 30 Nov 2011:REMOVED: Ron Paul labels Newt and Mitt muppets Did anyone see the original? I assume the estate of Jim Henson complained about the libellous comparison of interesting, articulate and intelligent puppets with Mssrs. Gingrich and Romney.  

[Read more →]

The documents call for more  ‘short-term political expediency’ to boost their popularity The Lib Dems….more short term political expediency? Sirsly?

[Read more →]