Author Archives: bernardporter2013

I’ve just discovered a feature on my Blogsite thingy that allows me to see which of my posts are most often read. I was shocked to find that the winner, nearly every day, and by a long shot, is a … Continue reading →

I blame Monty Python. Originally regarded as entirely beyond belief, but touching gently on certain British traits, it got us used to the ridiculous. Then came Brexit. The genuinely ridiculous Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – its leaders … Continue reading →

As soon as the Labour manifesto is leaked, we get the Telegraph and the Mail rubbishing it as a ‘return to the 1970s’. That of course is in order to paint Corbyn as the antediluvian reactionary he – to be fair … Continue reading →

We good Leftists really do have a mountain to climb if we’re to overcome the evil Rightists and proto-Fascists ranged against us today. (OK; ‘evil’ may be a bit strong.) There’s the media, for a start, and people’s stupidity; and, … Continue reading →

Is there a logical or principled argument for ‘patriotism’? I can think of practical and emotional reasons: familiarity, tribal instinct, ignorance, and its value to a government that needs its people to fight for it. I can also think of … Continue reading →

I genuinely fear Theresa May. Perhaps I shouldn’t, because we don’t really know her yet. That may be why she decided to go to the country so unnecessarily early, and before we got to know; or, to put it another … Continue reading →

It’s hardly fun being a socialist in Britain just now. The popular press is demonizing us, and the country as a whole is creeping – seemingly – towards a situation that can only be described, without much exaggeration, as proto-fascist. Democratic … Continue reading →

Apparently our UK press now lies at number 40 in Reporters Without Borders’ ‘Press Freedom Index’. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index; which also describes the methodology.) That’s way below most other ‘developed’ countries of the world, apart from the USA (at no. 43). … Continue reading →

We all need our heroes. They seem to be in rather short supply just now – live ones, anyway. Mine – since the death of Bobby Moore – has long been the pianist, conductor and peacemaker Daniel Barenboim. We went … Continue reading →

For a few years now I’ve been blogging about the Julian Assange case, both here, on the LRB Blogsite, and in Lobster (e.g. http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/free/lobster71/lob71-assange-again.pdf). This has been based on my historical interest in ‘Secret Service’ activities, and on my present … Continue reading →