Author Archives: bernardporter2013

Unknown's avatar

About bernardporter2013

Retired academic, author, historian.

Tories, Austerity, and IDS

Posted on March 20, 2016 by bernardporter2013

Exciting things are happening in British politics just now, mainly Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s dramatic resignation from the cabinet on Friday. This is not as straightforward as it looks. Was it really over disability benefits, as he … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Cambridge and homosexual harassment

Posted on March 17, 2016 by bernardporter2013

When I went up to Cambridge in October 1960, I found myself, for the first time, in the company of public schoolboys. My college (Corpus Christi) boasted – if that’s the word – a higher proportion of them than most, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Islam and the British Empire

Posted on March 14, 2016 by bernardporter2013

A couple of years ago I was asked to comment, in a Swedish TV interview, on a series of three documentaries, called Clash of Worlds, originally shown on BBC2, but still accessible on YouTube. (Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E9cXw-TXBI&list=PLi7XUXYkpEgnWhhazbReib9BHEfYuGh2_) I was … Continue reading →

Posted in British imperialism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump: a historical parallel

Posted on March 14, 2016 by bernardporter2013

A decisive moment in the career of Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s, is supposed to have been a rally at Olympia on 7 June 1934, where violent scuffles broke out as hecklers … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Elgar for Lefties

Posted on March 13, 2016 by bernardporter2013

A very fine talk yesterday at the Elgar Society Yorkshire Branch (of which I’m Hon Treasurer): Rachel Cowgill on what she called ‘Elgar’s War Requiem’ – which is what it is. Unfortunately it’s formally entitled The Spirit of England, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Harold Wilson

Posted on March 11, 2016 by bernardporter2013

Happy 100th birthday to Harold Wilson, a great reforming Labour Prime Minister, shamefully traduced by both the Right and the Left since his retirement and death, but intelligent, progressive, politically savvy, a real man of the people, consensual, and with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Trump: the long view

Posted on March 10, 2016 by bernardporter2013

I’m no authority on American politics, though I follow them closely – staying up all night to watch presidential election results, for example (all week in November 2000, over the ‘hanging chads’) – and have lived and worked in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

British imperialism forgotten?

Posted on March 8, 2016 by bernardporter2013

Young Owen Jones, who seems to be everywhere these days, and whose books and journalism I greatly admire, recently published on the Guardian website – and possibly in the print version too, though I couldn’t find it there – an … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Four Yorkshiremen updated

Posted on March 8, 2016 by bernardporter2013

I first saw the ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch at a Cambridge Footlights ‘Smoker’ in the 1960s. That might have been its first outing. I have an idea that it was originally created by my old Thespian mate Bill Oddy (now better … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Beloved Terrorist

Posted on March 7, 2016 by bernardporter2013

Recommended reading. It’s in Swedish; I’m hoping it will appear in English translation soon. It’s by and about Anna, a Swede, who was married to a jihadist for sixteen years. http://www.adlibris.com/se/bok/alskade-terrorist-16-ar-med-militanta-islamister-9789113059136 I know Anna. (How we met is mentioned in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments